Down 2-0 to Sacopee Valley just three days after losing its Western Maine Conference opener to Cape Elizabeth, the Freeport High School girls soccer team needed a spark.
Enter forward Julia Smith, who made sure her team was not going to remain winless.
She sent a shot toward the Sacopee Valley goal, looking for something to happen. The ball slipped through the hands of Hawks goaltender Madison Day and right to the foot of teammate Maddie Squibb, who made no mistake and scored Freeport’s first goal of the campaign just 16 seconds after the Hawks had taken a 2-0 lead.
Smith was not done. She also tallied the game-winning goal with 10:51 remaining in regulation as the Falcons picked up a come-frombehind 4-2 win on Tuesday.
“Most of the time I am able to send crosses in front of the net, but on my goal I was able to find a little bit of room over their goalie and it worked out,” said Smith, who caused havoc throughout, helping Freeport to an 18-9 shots advantage. “We were pumped up after scoring. This is a big win.”
“The girls decided that it was time to start playing,” said Freeport coach Elayna Girardin. “This team has the ability and the skill, but for whatever reason they haven’t gotten it in their heads to play hard from the beginning of the game. They know what they need to do to have success, and hopefully this will pick us up the rest of the way.”
Another catalyst in this one was defender Lexi Dietrich, whose 25- yard shot found a way over the outstretched hands of Day with 20:48 remaining on the clock to tie the game 2-2.
“Lexi’s goal was a game-changer, a goal that was extremely important that got the team fired up,” said Girardin. “When a defender scores, the whole team gets hungry. That shows me that they are ready to do it. When Lexi did that, it got everyone else going. She has been playing great for us out of the back, and is one of those players who can dribble in and use her powerful shot.”
“I took a touch, and I thought it was going to go over the goal, but it went in,” said Dietrich, who sat on her bench after the game, nursing a bloody nose after a hard collision moments after her game-tying goal. “We picked it up intensity-wise, and just knew that we could do it. It is much better to be 1-1 than to have two losses to start the season.”
“It was an important goal, and it made us get into it at the end and score those last two goals,” said Smith.
Hawks jump ahead
The opening 25 minutes of the contest were played mostly in the midfield, with neither team finding an offensive flow.
That all changed with 14:12 remaining until halftime as Sacopee Valley’s Kayla Brown dug the ball out of a scrum in front of the Falcons cage and beat Freeport goaltender Livvy Dimick for a 1-0 lead.
Less than four minutes later, Hawks forward Courtney Ryan deflected a pass from Jade Jordan into the net for a 2-0 edge.
The Falcons had allowed the first seven goals of their season (a 5-0 loss to Cape on Saturday), and needed something to get back into this one.
Smith controlled the ball after the ensuing kick-off, drove toward the Sacopee goal and fired a shot. The rebound went to Squibb and she made no mistake, firing into the vacated net to cut the deficit to 2-1.
“Julia was a huge loss for us last year after a stress fracture two games in, and now she seems to be getting back after a tough game against Cape,” said Girardin. “She has to learn to be more flexible, and it is getting better. She knows how to do it. It’s just believing that she can.”
Freeport took the final six shots of the first half, and began the second half in similar fashion, searching for the tying goal.
Day (four saves) made a pair of stops on Richardson and Smith, while at the other end, Dimick (six saves) turned aside Ryan to keep her team in it.
After Dietrich tied the contest, Smith’s goal made for a 3-2 contest. Moments later, a shot by Freeport’s Brooke Heathco struck the crossbar, but Day was helpless with 2:16 remaining when Heathco buried a pass from Alyssa Richardson to complete the scoring.
Defensively, Freeport was paced by Molly Lane, Lauren Cormier and Emily Johnson. Sacopee Valley finished with a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
Freeport 4,
Sacopee Valley 2
At Freeport High School
Sacopee — 2 0 — 2
Freeport — 1 3 — 4
Goals — (SV) Kayla Brown, Courtney Ryan; (F)
Maddie Squibb, Lexi Dietrich, Julia Smith, Brooke
Heathco.
Assists — (SV) Jade Jordan; (F) Julia Smith, Alyssa
Richardson.
Shots — Freeport 18, Sacopee Valley 9.
Saves — (SV) Madison Day 4; (F) Livvy Dimick 6.
Corner kicks — Sacopee Valley 4, Freeport 3.
Records — Freeport 1-1, Sacopee Valley 0-1.
Up next for Freeport — Friday at home against
Wells, 3:30 p.m.
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