Freeport’s Allison Greuel (3) runs towards the net while being chased by Fryeburg defenders during the first half of Thursday’s girls high school lacrosse game at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. The Falcons won 15-3. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)

FREEPORT — April’s latest snow melted away by midday on Thursday, and before the afternoon sun set, Freeport opened its 2019 season with a dominating 15-3 victory over Fryeburg Academy in girls high school lacrosse action at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field.

The Falcons received goals from 10 different scorers while outshooting the Raiders, 25-10 in the Western Maine Conference contest.

“We like to make sure there are a ton of people scoring, especially in a high-scoring game like this,” senior Allison Greuel said.

Junior Molly Whelan led all scorers with three goals while adding a couple of assists. Greuel, Meredith Feller and Myah Jensen each netted a pair of goals in the victory.

“We haven’t had a lot of practices together as varsity because we were still picking teams, so we really haven’t had too much (time) together,” Marcia Wood said. “I know we’re switching up our defense and want to play zone so we wanted an opportunity to practice that and today was really just getting used to each other — pass, catch, communicate.”

It did not take long for the Falcons to strike. After winning the opening draw, Freeport marched down the field and put a shot on net. Just over a minute into the contest, Greuel found Whelan for the first score of the game. Three minutes later, Feller tallied an unassisted goal before Whelan struck the back of the net minutes later for a 3-0 Freeport lead, prompting a Fryeburg timeout a little under seven minutes into the game.

Margaret Perrotta was solid in controlling the draws for the Falcons. The senior grabbed the first four at midfield, ensuring possession for the Falcons and controlling the pace.

Freeport’s Meredith Feller (14) runs alongside Brittany Smith (11) during the first half of Thursday’s girls high school lacrosse game at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. The Falcons won 15-3. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)

“She wanted to do those draws last year, but we had success with Taylor (Rinaldi) so she didn’t do too many,” Wood said. “She likes to do them, she has a knack for them as she can direct it where she wants and communicates very well with people in the circle.”

Perrotta said she does like doing the draws, and it’s something she takes pride in being successful.

“I trained on them a lot with the lacrosse club team last summer, so that’s where I’ve been learning,” Perrotta said.

Jensen tallied her two goals over the next couple of minutes, one off a free position at the 15:16 mark, followed by a score off a Whelan helper at 13:01.

Freeport continued to apply pressure on the visitors with Perrotta and Hannah Groves winning draws, as well as taking advantage of a Raider penalty, registering two more scores as the Raiders played a player down. Greuel netted one, while freshman Ellie Whittier tallied her first varsity goal.

Groves and Perrotta closed out the first half with goals for Freeport, as aggressive defense, tight ball control and crisp passes led to the 9-0 halftime lead.

“We’re fortunate to be out on the turf since day one,” Wood said. “It helps a lot with just moving around, passing the ball outside, working on getting that feel.”

Freeport held a 15-4 advantage in shots, while winning 8-of-10 draws, and goalie Amelia Farrin turned away all five shots she faced in net for the Falcons in the opening 25 minutes.

Fryeburg netted its first goal of the game four minutes into the second frame when Sophie Trepohl beat Vivian Crawford, who replaced Farrin at the break, for the score.

Freeport answered with goals by Maggie Ryan and Greuel’s second of the game to push the contest to running time as the Falcons led, 11-1 with 16:24 to play.

Fryeburg’s Bridget O’Neil registered an unassisted goal before Whelan notched her third, followed by Feller’s second and freshman Savannah Tracy’s first career goal to extend the lead to 14-2.

“We lost a lot of seniors and we have some young players, but we have some lacrosse players,” Wood said. “They have been playing together for awhile and played a lot in the offseason, so they were really ready as the season started. It was good to see our freshman play well out there today.”

“We’re young this year, but a lot of these girls have played together for awhile and we have some good athletes,” Perrotta added.

“We have a ton of new people this year and I’m really excited to be part of building this program after losing so many people to graduation,” Greuel added.

Even with the majority of the roster underclassmen, Wood relies heavily on her seniors, and credits Greuel and others with playing travel lacrosse last summer.

“She did some stuff last summer for the Maniacs and just doing a few things there and playing with more competitive players, she’s already cleaned up a bunch of her things from last year,” Wood said. “She’s my runner, she’s fast and that speed and determination down the field helps us.”

The two teams traded goals to close out the game, giving the Falcons with dozen-goal victory, 15-3.

Freeport goalie Amelia Farrin stops a Fryeburg shot during the first half of Thursday’s girls high school lacrosse game at Joan Benoit Samuelson Track and Field. The Falcons won 15-3. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)

Farrin and Crawford combined for seven saves in net, both playing in goal for the first time as junior Piper Sherbert was unavailable for Thursday’s game.

“They have not really had any training in net, and were both fantastic today,” Wood said.

Following a trip to Florida during spring break, where the Falcons will scrimmage area lacrosse club teams and practice every day in the warm temperatures, Freeport will travel to Yarmouth on April 23 for their next game (6 p.m.)

“I was proud of them today, not finding out if they were playing today until 12:30 and with our trip tomorrow, they were really mentally prepared,” Wood said.