FALMOUTH — Cheverus pulled off the biggest surprise in the Western Class A boys’ soccer quarterfinals Tuesday, upsetting second-ranked Falmouth, 2-1.

Mackenzie Hoglund broke a 1-1 tie with 17:50 left in the first half.

“I think my guys play with a lot more confidence when we’re up a goal,” said Stags Coach Colin Minte, whose seventh-seeded team improved to 8-4-4.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Hoglund, who had an assist on the Stags’ first goal.

Hoglund, a junior forward, was all over the field, possessing the ball more often than not and controlling the tempo throughout most of the game.

“Every time the ball moves, I’m moving with the ball,” he said.

From the start, the teams played at a frantic pace with physical play.

Junior Brady Levesque gave the Stags a 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the game aided by a terrific in-air through pass from Hoglund that silenced the large Falmouth crowd.

The Yachtsmen (11-2-2) tied the game with 27:59 remaining in the opening half on a goal by senior Gabe Mahoney.

The Yachtsmen threatened to tie the game late in the second half. With time running out and the Stags’ defense playing back, every opportunity was fought for.

Falmouth was awarded two free kicks, both close to the box in the final four minutes, but neither ended up on target.

“We had some breaks, we didn’t convert on them,” Falmouth Coach David Halligan said.

“We have some outstanding young men on this team, as they move on they will all be successful.”

Cheverus will continue their playoff run, on the road, against South Portland in a Western Maine Class A semifinal on Saturday.

“We are a very dangerous team moving forward. We have some very talented players up top, but we’ve really got to do a better job of taking some pressure off of our defense,” Minte said looking forward to Saturday’s game.

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