TOPSHAM — The air was cold, the rain was constant and the sticks were slick.

Not that the Freeport field hockey team seemed to mind.

Liza Flower scored twice, Reed Proscia, Sophie Bradford and Emily Groves added goals, and the undefeated Falcons began a week of tests with a 5-0 victory over Mt. Ararat.

With the Eagles (7-2) on the schedule, as well as WMC rival Greely and Leavitt (10-0) on Saturday, the defending Class B champion Falcons knew they were going to need to be at their best this week. And they were ready for the challenge.

“We’ve had so many games that are not super exciting, so to be able to play against a team that’s talented, I think they just rise to the occasion with that,” said Freeport Coach Marcia Wood, whose Falcons (9-0) have now outscored their opponents 43-2. “They knew this week, we were going to have three pretty challenging games, and they needed to step up.”

The Falcons were ready, even in a misty rain that never let up.

“I had a ton of fun playing in the rain,” Flower said with a smile. “I almost prefer playing in the rain. We did a great job.”

Freeport clicked right from the start. They had three corners in the first four minutes and scored on the third, with Proscia knocking in a ball that was kicking around in front of the cage after being sent from right to left with 8:31 left in the first.

“I think we’ve done a really good job in practice of keeping our sticks down in the circle,” Proscia said. “We’re doing a good job of finding our positions in the circle and being where we’re supposed to be. … We’re just feeling really good as a team right now.”

The Falcons didn’t let up. Just over three minutes later, Flower led a two-player rush toward the goal, and fired a shot from roughly 10 yards out that found the cage with 5:14 to go.

“Our biggest goal this game was just to come out strong and keep up the intensity,” Flower said. “I think that second goal kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Indeed it did. Freeport had eight corners by halftime to none for Mt. Ararat, and their pressure – both offensively and defensively – kept goalie Maddie Kryzak from having to make a save until 1:44 remained in the third quarter.

“I thought our passing game today was just spectacular,” Wood said. “And we’ve been talking about stepping to the ball and being aggressive.”

In the meantime, Flower made it 3-0 with a lifted shot with 5:48 left in the second, and Bradford and Groves had goals off corners with 11:02 left in the third and 7:08 left in the fourth, respectively.

“I think they’re really used to playing together, and they’re a well-oiled machine,” Mt. Ararat Coach Krista Chase said. “My girls are young and played young tonight. That hasn’t been the case in a lot of games this year, but that just showed.”

Chase did say her team, which earned four corners in the second half, would benefit from the opponent.

“We have to figure out how to keep up with teams that are a couple of steps ahead of us,” she said. “Lots to learn from this one.”