Some teams beat you with a dazzling attack. Others rely on a lockdown defense.
Waynflete can beat you with both.
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Midfielder Abel Alemayo set up two first-half goals and fourth-seeded Waynflete’s defense earned its 10th shutout of the season, a 3-0 win over No. 5 St. Dominic Academy in a Western Class C quarterfinal Tuesday at the Waynflete athletics complex in Portland.
The Flyers (12-1-2) move on to a regional semifinal Friday against top-seeded Maranacook (15-0), which beat No. 9 Sacopee Valley 3-0 Tuesday night.
The Saints, who closed the regular season with six straight wins, finish 10-3-2.
“The offense played really well in the first half,” Waynflete center back Willy Burdick said, “and the defense played really well in the second half. Overall, we did it as a team.”
The Flyers put St. Dom’s under pressure from the opening moments, with strikers Clancy Mitchell causing havoc in the 18-yard box and Harry Baker-Connick blazing to the end line for a shot from close range.
“Abel and I like to work the one-two down the line, then I can make my runs,” Baker-Connick said. “We almost had a couple chances off that early.”
Later in the half Baker-Connick hit a post and crossbar, but he finally broke through in the 23rd minute, taking a pass from Alemayo and driving a low shot past Saints keeper Ben Sawyer (six saves).
“We scored more goals in the first half but we gave up more chances, too,” Waynflete Coach Brandon Salway said. “We gave up two or three really good chances. We talked at halftime about doing less ball-watching and more moving as a group defensively.”
The Saints played better through the midfield in the second half but failed to penetrate Waynflete’s back line of Max Winson, Burdick, Aaron Lee and Jack Meahl. They did well to keep Saints attackers Austin Roy, Connor Samson and Ryan Lutrzykowski in check.
Burdick in particular stepped up and drove the ball forward, placing it in lanes where Alemayo, Baker-Connick or Mitchell could play it. Keeper Milo Belleau made six saves.
Alemayo was in the mix again in the 38th minute, when he played a long pass on the counterattack to Mitchell, who tracked the through ball, stripped it from a defender and beat Sawyer one-on-one for a 2-0 lead.
“I just got the ball, opened up, played it through and Clancy had a great finish,” Alemayo said. “The credit goes to Harry and Clancy. They’re both great finishers.”
Christian Kabongo closed the scoring in the 73rd minute, deftly heading the ball over Sawyer, who came off his line. Jack Weston picked up the assist, driving a long, high ball into the box, where Kabongo played the bounce.
“The window is small in the playoffs,” St. Dom’s Coach Marty Bressler said. “We had a few great opportunities in the first half and we didn’t shoot. If you don’t bury those two or three opportunities you get, you’re going to play from behind and that’s just not going to do it against a team like Waynflete.”
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