POLAND — This habit of playing late-season girls’ soccer games with playoff implications is equally new to Poland and Freeport. The upstart WMC and Western Class B rivals each are in that frame of mind for the second year in a row.

Wednesday night it was the Falcons who made the surroundings look like familiar territory, scoring two goals in a span of just over two minutes midway through the first half and making it hold up for a 2-0 victory over the Knights.

Ashley Richardson and Emily Morang connected from close range, both assisted by Julia Smith, to propel Freeport (9-4), which continues to pad its first winning record since 2004.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to work on the past couple weeks is how we come out. We’ve been coming out flat, and that caught us in two games with Waynflete and Greely,” Freeport coach Elayna Girardin said. “So our main goal was to get a goal quick. Getting a second goal quick was a nice bonus. We’re still trying to string together a whole game.”

Freeport did a fair job of that, too.

Sixty more minutes of soccer didn’t produce fabulous scoring chances for the Falcons. But with senior Lexi Dietrich shadowing Poland striker Emily Bolduc from the sundown start until the final horn, the Knights (6-6) never had an opportunity to get back in the game.

“As I’ve told Emily and (her sister) Sarah, even, is, they’re marked. When you score goals, people are going to read the paper, and they know,” Poland coach Brant Remington said. “Most teams remember Emily from last year, but we had the (Emma) Turton girl and a lot was going to her. Dietrich, that was her job, frustrating her, and she did a good job.”

While Dietrich clamped down on the Poland standout wearing No. 2, Freeport’s own player in that jersey broke free from the Knights’ coverage to polish off a pretty play for the game-winner.

Smith launched a cross from the left corner, and Richardson headed it past Poland goalkeeper Erin Brewer’s reach with 22:38 remaining in the half.

Freeport quickly cashed in another play from left-to-right. Smith’s pass drew more of a crowd this time, and Poland’s defense might have let up briefly in anticipation of a hand ball call that never materialized.

Morang took advantage and booted it home, giving the Falcons a two-goal advantage before the Knights had taken their first shot on goal.

Remington received a yellow card for his protest of the play.

“It’s a home game, but we didn’t show up for the first half,” he quipped. “We did for the second half, but Freeport definitely showed up with some intentions.”

Freeport’s motivation for the game was to stay in the top six in the regional Heal Point standings, thereby avoiding a preliminary-round playoff tilt. The Falcons currently are ranked No. 5.

They’ll be a tough out no matter where they wind up in the bracket if Dietrich continues to play her brand of shutdown defense.

“(Bolduc) is a very skilled player. She’s quick and she’s a good playmaker. Our goal was to take her out of that role to make plays, whether it was to goal or to pass,” Girardin said. “Lexi is tall. She is strong, and actually she is the 200-meter state champ in track, so she’s quick. I think that was a key part, taking the playmaker and trying to minimize her.”

Poland’s best chance at a reply in the first half was a direct kick from Bolduc. It trickled wide right from about 25 yards with seven minutes left.

Bolduc served up a pass that caught Freeport keeper Livvy Dimick leaning early in the second half. Delaney Woodford nearly ran it down, but the Falcons cleared it out of the box.

Outstanding defense from Jessie Quint and two diving saves from Brewer, who made nine stops in all, kept the Knights within striking distance at the half.

“We’ve been streaky this season. We started off 3-1,” Remington said. “We had one week where we lost three in a row, probably to a couple of teams we shouldn’t have. Then we came back strong last week and beat NYA and Wells on the road and looked like ourselves again. Hopefully we’re not streaking the other way. We’ve got a couple of days to work on some stuff.”

Poland can clinch back-to-back winning seasons with a victory over either Yarmouth or Kennebunk in one of its final two games. More importantly for the Knights, they are currently No. 7 and one of six teams in a scrum for five playoff spots.

“Now (it might) depend on what everybody else does,” Remington said. “But at least we’ve got two more. Most of the other teams only have one left.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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