YARMOUTH — This one was over by intermission.

Or so it seemed to the Greely boys’ soccer team and nearly everyone else in attendance Wednesday afternoon at North Yarmouth Academy.

Greely’s Jacob Nason gives a high-five to teammate Nick Pronovost, 23, after the first goal of the game Wednesday at North Yarmouth Academy. Greely defeated York, 3-2, in a Class B South boys’s soccer quarterfinal. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

The third-seeded Rangers did win, but by a 3-2 margin over No. 6 York in a Class B South quarterfinal that saw Greely clinging desperately to its once-commanding lead.

Greely (9-3-3) advances to a regional semifinal Saturday at No. 2 Yarmouth (13-1-1). The Clippers beat No. 7 Cape Elizabeth 2-0 Wednesday.

“We didn’t play with any urgency in the second half,” Greely Coach Mike Andreasen said after seeing a three-goal halftime cushion shrink to one. “We played like it was 3-0 and we were sitting on it. You can’t sit on leads. Teams are in the playoffs for a reason, because at some point, they were very good against somebody.”

The Wildcats were good, only not so much against Greely, which won their two regular-season contests by a combined score of 10-1. So when Nick Pronovost, Jacob Nason and Hunter Graham all found the back of the net in the first half Wednesday for Greely, a third victory seemed certain.

The Rangers controlled much of the action and had several opportunities to pad their lead, but either shots veered off target or York keeper Ian Hovde (14 saves) smothered them.

In the 54th minute, Chris D’Aquila fed Ryan Webb on the left wing and Webb sent a drive inside the near post for York’s first goal. With just over 10 minutes remaining, and a few raindrops starting to fall, York’s Malcolm Hughes sent a direct kick from just over midfield into the goal mouth into the arms of Greely keeper Brandon George.

Only the ball squirted through George’s grasp and into the net to make it 3-2.

“The second goal was unfortunate, but those things happen,” Andreasen said. “The thing that bothered me more was the way that we played after, the whole frantic pace and us coming unglued, so to speak.”

York had one final threat on a set play with eight minutes remaining, when Alex Nickerson’s fake touches on an indirect kick drew a yellow card (one of five handed out in the second half) for encroachment that forced Nason to sit for the remainder of the game. When Nickerson finally tipped the ball into play, Austin Nowinski blasted a shot over the right post.

“We should have been able to keep them from scoring two, but we got the result we wanted,” said Pronovost, who assisted on Graham’s goal.

Lucas Watt added an assist on Nason’s goal. In the regular-season finale, Nason scored five times as Greely beat York 7-1.

“Everything they did went right that day,” said York Coach Mike Masi. “They’re not six goals better than us, but they are a solid two to three goals better than us on a given day. The better team won.”

Masi said York has never lost a playoff game by more than one goal. That the Wildcats kept that streak alive was somewhat surprising.

“We did a good job in getting two goals back and making it interesting,” Masi said. “I’m happy with the second half. But the first half, the damage was done.”

Related Stories