FREEPORT

Throughout the opening 40 minutes of Western Maine Conference high school boys soccer action on Monday, Joe Heathco’s Freeport Falcons literally faced a ferocious, never-ending wind as the Greely Rangers continually possessed the ball.

The Falcons didn’t break in the face of the Rangers’ pressure, fighting to a scoreless halftime tie despite the constant Greely bombardment.

However, the veteran Rangers also never blinked despite playing the second half into the wind, getting two early goals for a 2-0 victory.

Greely improved to 2-0, while Freeport dropped to 1-2- 1 and visits Gray-New Gloucester on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Rangers controlled the tempo of the game, playing mostly on Freeport’s side of the field, finishing with a 21-1 shot advantage. Many of those shots came from the outside as the Falcons packed the defense at the top of the 18, refusing to allow Greely to get good penetration.

“I really feel good about the effort out there, and I thought our shaping was really good and has come a long way,” said Heathco. “I was really pleased that on the whole most of their shots came from the outside. Their two goals were balls that just bounced around, so it was a great team effort today.”

One thing hurting Freeport was the absence of starting goaltender Brendan Qualls, missing due to an eye infection. This forced Heathco to move top striker and senior captain Connor Dietrich into the cage.

“You put Connor back in goal, not on offense, and it takes away someone who has played very well up front for us in the early part of the season, and considering Greely had planned on putting someone on him to try to take him away says volumes of his importance to our team,” said Heathco, who watched Dietrich turn away 14 shots. “Connor stepped into the goal and played superb, stopping a couple early breakaways and doing a great job in keeping us in the game.”

“I hadn’t been back there in a while and it did feel weird, but it felt good to make a couple nice early saves,” said Dietrich, who played in goal for Freeport two years ago as a sophomore. “The first half we were trying to get possession and wear them down, using our fitness, but they are a good team. You just have to hand it to them. You make a mistake against them and they make you pay.”

Greely pressure

Greely set up shop on the Freeport side of the field early in the contest. Freeport defenders Sam Farrar, Gage Golding, Nick Nelsonwood, Harry Stivers, Cole Harrison and Parker Matheson stood tall, clearing the ball to the outside, with the wind making long boots upfield impossible for the hosts.

Greely’s Mitchell Donovan found room four minutes in, but his breakaway shot and the ensuing rebound were stopped by Dietrich.

In all, the Rangers outshot the Falcons 11-0 in the opening 40 minutes, with Dietrich making eight saves, including diving stops on Liam Campbell and Ted Hart.

Entering the second half, the Falcons felt confident with the wind at their back, but Greely struck just 42 seconds into the frame. Dietrich robbed Nicholas Shain’s attempt, but the bouncing ball was corralled by Matthew Crowley and put into the empty net for a 1-0 Rangers lead.

“We were so fired up at halftime, then all of the sudden they get one and it takes the wind out of our sails,” said Dietrich.

Less than six minutes later, game-long standout Nicholas Dunnett finished off a corner kick by Shain to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.

Freeport put on minimal pressure in the second half, getting its only shot when Landon Easler’s direct kick found its way through the Greely defense and into the arms of Rangers netminder Elijah Leverett.

Greely held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks and received strong play from defenders Samuel Porter and Douglas Mitiguy.