CUMBERLAND — With a chewed-up field and rain falling throughout, the Greely and Cape Elizabeth boys’ players had all they could do to maintain their footing on a wet, slippery field Saturday.
Scoring would be a luxury.
There was only one goal and it belonged to second-seeded Greely, who beat the third-ranked Capers 1-0 in the Western Class B semifinals.
The goal was scored by Henry Melville on a header midway through the first half. The play started when the Rangers (11-3-2) were awarded a free kick. Jacob Nason took it and Melville positioned himself in front of the net among a crowd.
“I ran to the ball and set my head on it,” said Melville. “It was tough maintaining your footing because it was very slippery.”
Melville wasn’t just talking about his goal but the whole game. Players were wiping out on a regular basis. They would cut and their feet would go out from underneath them. Combined with the physical play from both clubs, players hit the turf on a regular basis.
“The field conditions were brutal, especially in the middle of the field, but I thought the referees kept it even and didn’t let anyone have an unfair advantage ” said Cape Coach Ben Raymond of the physicality. “We had some good chances. Greely was able to turn aside all of them. I don’t think it was great soccer under the conditions.”
Greely will play at Yarmouth for the regional title Wednesday and will be glad to be on an articifial surface. The footing will be ideal with no mud balls.
The field was used for a football playoff game Friday night, then a girls’ soccer playoff game earlier Saturday.
Cape (10-5-1) showed its best offense on Griffin Thorek free kicks. A couple of times they got through a crowd in front and Greely goalie John Wright had to save.
“He has a very hard shot,” said Greely Coach Mike Andreasen. “I thought our defense played extremely well.”
Even though Cape plays on an artificial turf field, Raymond didn’t think his team was at a disavantage. “We practice on grass. It was the same for both teams,” he said.
In the regular season, the teams met twice with each winning 2-1 at home. Both coaches expected another close game.
“A slip here or there could have meant another goal or two. We were positioned well on their goal. Greely made a nice play,” said Raymond.
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