Flyers edge Falcons, 10-8

Taylor Rinaldi led the Lady Falcons’ attack versus visiting Waynflete on Saturday, May 7, hashing a trio of goals to help keep her girls in the hunt for all 50 minutes. But the Flyers’ own offense proved too strong, and allowed them to slip by Freeport in the end, 10-8.

Freeport head coach Marcia Wood took positives from the defeat. “We were up. It was always either a one- or two-point game, nothing huge. Just to be able to play with a competitive team; we needed to be able to play with a competitive team and not get down.”

The Falcons’ last matchup, three days earlier, had been against Yarmouth, who peppered them with goals. “Yarmouth, they just got us so fast in the beginning that we could not recover,” Wood said.

Freeport actually got up 2-0 to begin the the bout with the Flyers: Courtney Broderick and Rinaldi each scored in the opening minutes. Waynflete got one back at 19:54, but the Falcons quickly responded, Rinaldi assisting Taylor Dostie for 3-1.

That’s when the Flyers surged, however. The visitors hashed goals at 19:01, 18:30 and 13:43 and seized a 4-3 lead. They would never trail again.

Waynflete added another with just under 10 minutes to play before the break, but then Freeport fought back. Broderick (who ultimately finished with four assists) circled around the back of the Flyers’ net to feed Rinaldi, lingering out front. Rinaldi’s second of the day brought her girls within one, 5-4.

Lily Johnston followed Rinaldi up, evening the tally at 5-5 just two minutes later. Waynflete soon earned another, but Freeport keeper Sam Jordan showed her stuff between the pipes as the half wound down keep her squad close.

“We had a long talk Thursday after our game Wednesday against Yarmouth,” Wood said, “and said, ‘Something needs to change, because we are that good, but we’re…not showing it.’”

“I was worried about today,” she said. “You never know what Waynflete’s going to bring. We cannot have another 10-point spread and running time. No more running time.”

Jordan began the second half with a couple of big saves, but she was bound to let another ball slip past eventually, and the Flyers went up 7-5 after about four minutes. Chloe Davidson promptly countered, underhanding a Freeport goal past Waynflete keeper Charlotte Majercik for 7-6, but the Falcons still weren’t caught up and the Flyers still weren’t done.

Wood praised Jordan. “Elevens saves – huge,” she said. “She’s been working really hard. She was on today, focused.”

The squads jostled for two more rounds of back-and-forth – Rinaldi tallied Freeport’s seventh, cutting inside for a hard shot, and Johnston their eighth, a needle-threader through heavy traffic – as time ticked away, but the Falcons couldn’t quite close the gap. The Flyers capped the afternoon with a last point at 1:17, securing the 10-8 final.

“We’re afraid to take risks,” Wood said, assessing her girls’ defense. “I’m like, ‘Go out and give a little pressure.’ Izzy (Masison) does a great job back there, anticipating the pass; she’ll actually go out and try and intercept. Sometimes she messes the person up, sometimes she doesn’t – but at least she’s taking risks, taking chances. You’ve got to. You’ve got the rest of your team here backing you up.”

The Lady Falcons kicked off their 2016 with a loss, 16-5 at Falmouth. They soon balanced out their record with a win, 15-7, at Fryeburg, but then fell a second time, 15-4 at Yarmouth. So, they jump now to 2-2. Their next battle is again at home, this time vs. Cony, who drop by on Wednesday the 11th.