YARMOUTH — The Freeport field hockey team played Yarmouth in last year’s Class B South final and lost. The Falcons played the Clippers twice during the regular season this fall and lost them both.
But coach Marcia Wood believed another matchup would go differently for her team. And her players, 13 of whom are seniors, felt the same way.
“They were ready and they were focused, and everyone felt good,” Wood said. “Everyone felt good today. I knew they were a little bit nervous, but everyone felt good.”
By the end of the game Thursday night, they were feeling even better. Emily Groves scored a first-quarter goal, and second-seeded Freeport blanked previously undefeated Yarmouth, 1-0, to win the Class B South championship.
Wood was upbeat after both a 2-1 overtime loss to the top-seeded Clippers (16-1) on Oct. 6 and a 1-0 defeat in the rematch on Oct. 20, choosing to focus on the positives of close games and her team’s improving play and health. On Thursday, the Falcons (14-3) rewarded her optimism.
“I’ve been in this position multiple times, trying to beat a team three times,” she said. “I’ve been on the good side, the bad side, everything. I just knew. I just knew that we would adjust, and I knew that the girls were ready to do it.”
Yarmouth was denied a second straight regional championship and another shot at defending state champion Belfast, which won the North title again a year after beating the Clippers in penalty corners in the 2024 state final.
“We’ll rebuild, we’ll be back, we’re not done yet,” Yarmouth coach Bri Page said. “We’re still chasing that title, and we’ll get there.”
The Clippers were playing a veteran Freeport team with a senior class that has already played in two state finals and won one. And the Falcons knew they could solve an opponent that seemed to have their number.
“We were confident. Yarmouth came into this game undefeated, they had every right to be confident as well,” Groves said. “But I feel like we just believe in ourselves, and we knew that as long as we believed in each other, we could do it.”
Groves saw to it, leading a rush toward the net in the first quarter and firing a shot that Yarmouth keeper Emma Shannon stopped. The ball deflected to Lizalyn Boudreau, who sent it back down to Groves, and the senior rapped it home for a 1-0 lead just 1:01 into the game.
“Scoring first is super important,” Wood said. “The longer the second game (in the regular season) went on without a score, the more panicked we were, and not necessarily playing our game.”
Yarmouth didn’t buckle, as Celia Zinman led an attack that came at Freeport in waves and piled up nine corners in the first half and 10 for the game. Juicy rebounds and clear looks were scarce, however, and when they showed up, a defense led by Maddie Kryzek (nine saves) cleaned them up.
“It’s so rewarding,” Kryzek said. “I talked myself through it a little bit. Trust my training, this is my game, I know what to do. I’ve been in all these situations. I had to kind of calm my nerves and focus in on the game. That is what I’m here to do tonight, nothing else matters.”
For Kryzek, it was a measure of redemption after misplaying an odd bounce on the overtime winner in the first loss to Yarmouth this season. This time, with her team needing her to make one big stop after another, she delivered.
“She just was fantastic today,” Wood said. “She’s been totally locked in on this. … She played the game of her life.”
One key save came with around 1:45 to go in the second quarter when she kicked away a Sally McGrath shot. Another came midway through the third when she stopped a shot by Zinman and then teammate Dalila McCarthy blocked Stella Peck’s follow-up chance.
“We believed to the end,” Page said. “We thought it was coming, we just couldn’t get the last one in.”