Ryan McSorley scored twice in the first three minutes of the second period Wednesday night to spark second-seeded Cheverus to a 5-2 victory against seventh-ranked South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete in a Class A South boys’ hockey quarterfinal at Troubh Arena.

The victory put the Stags (14-5) into a regional semifinal Saturday night against third-seeded Scarborough (11-7-1) at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.

McSorley’s two goals put Cheverus in the lead for good.

“The leader shows up when he has to,” said Cheverus coach Dan Lucas. “McSorley came out in the second period and set the tone for us, and that’s what a leader does.”

McSorley, the team captain, snapped a 1-1 tie when he scored 14 seconds into the period. He got a backhander past goalie Joe Grant after weaving his way through the defense down the right side. “I had the goalie going one way and I just put it up high the other way,” McSorley said.

A little more than two minutes later, Mike Hatch’s shot from the left circle went in off McSorley’s body for a power-play goal to make it 3-1.

“(Hatch) had the puck at the point, and I knew he has a great shot and always gets it through, so I just got in front of the net and tried to screen the goalie,” McSorley said. “I got lucky. (The puck) went off me and right into the net.”

Until McSorley’s two goals, it looked like Grant, who made 17 of his 37 saves in the first period, would be able to keep the Riots in the game.

“He was awesome,” said South Portland Coach Joe Robinson.

Less than a month ago, Cheverus skated to a 10-0 victory against South Portland (7-11-1).

“I’m very proud of the guys,” Robinson said. “They came to work tonight. We’ve had a few games this season where we’ve played like that and some games were we didn’t. That’s the sign of a young team, and I’m hoping next year we can take it to another level.”

Still, Cheverus held a 42-20 edge in shots on goal.

Two minutes into the third period, Gus Lappin, another freshman forward, cut the Stags’ lead to one goal when he put in a shot from the top of the left circle for a power-play goal after Max Winson won a faceoff.

Less than five minutes later, Colby Anton swept a wide-angled shot into the right side to give Cheverus a 4-2 lead.

With 22 seconds left, Jesse Pierce completed the scoring with an empty-net goal.

David Woodford opened the scoring for the Stags seven minutes into the game when he flipped a rebound into the left side of the goal after Grant steered Pierce’s close-in shot away from the right side of the goal.

Devan Hannan tied it up five minutes later on a breakaway after intercepting a pass near his own blue line.

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