Yarmouth boys strike fast in second half, blank Greely

Yarmouth senior Ian LaBrie is closely defended by Greely senior Sam Jenkins during Saturday’s contest. LaBrie was only held in check so long, as he scored three times in the second half in the Clippers’ 4-0 victory.

YARMOUTH—One LaBrie was way too much for the opposition to handle.

A second LaBrie just compounded the misery.

And the third is living up to the family name of scoring brilliance on the pitch.

Just ask the Greely Rangers, who simply had no answers for Yarmouth senior Ian LaBrie in the teams’ boys’ soccer regional final rematch Saturday evening at Yarmouth’s turf field.

After a scoreless first half, which saw the Clippers misfire on a number of golden opportunities, LaBrie took matters into his own hands (or more specifically, his feet) in a dazzling second half display of speed, skill and finishing touch.

LaBrie, the youngest brother of former Clippers stars Adam (Class of 2015) and Eric (Class of 2019), set up the first goal by leaving a couple defenders in his wake before feeding senior Baden McLaughlin with 28 minutes remaining for the only goal Yarmouth would need.

After LaBrie giveth, he tooketh three minutes later, as he converted a pretty pass from senior Will Hunter for some breathing room.

With 23:11 to go, LaBrie factored into the third goal in less than five minutes, as he drilled home a beautiful shot from the top of the box.

Then, one more time for good measure, LaBrie got his third (hat trick) goal with 3:56 remaining, when he scored on a penalty kick, and that was more than enough for the Clippers to go on to a 4-0 victory.

Yarmouth improved to 3-1 on the season, improved to 14-0-2 in the past 16 meetings against the Rangers and dropped Greely to 1-1-1 on the year in the process.

“I’ve learned everything from my brothers, playing with them and their friends and being pushed around,” said Ian LaBrie. “I’m sad to see it end this year, but I’m really happy it happened and that we got so many state championships.”

Hitting their stride

Yarmouth blanked visiting Mt. Ararat, 7-0, in its opener, then lost at Falmouth last Saturday in a rivalry renewed, 1-0.

The Clippers learned from that setback.

“The Falmouth game was tough,” LaBrie said. “We took it hard. Everything Falmouth did was what we were taught, but we just weren’t on our game.”

“I actually thought we played OK against Falmouth,” said longtime Yarmouth coach Mike Hagerty, who now has 293 victories with the program. “Our effort was fabulous and the work rate was great. I’ll take some credit for that loss since I don’t think we had our kids in the right shape in that game. We played a formation that maybe we weren’t ready for. I don’t think we deserved to win that game, but we deserved to tie.”

The Clippers returned to form Wednesday with a 4-0 victory at Cape Elizabeth.

Greely, which fell at Cape Elizabeth, 2-0, in its first game, played visiting Falmouth to a 2-2 tie Tuesday.

Last year, the longtime rivals met three times. Host Yarmouth had no trouble in the first meeting, winning, 4-0. In the second encounter, in Cumberland, the Clippers and Rangers settled for a 1-1 draw. The third game was the biggest, in the Class B South Final at Biddeford. Greely took a surprising 1-0 halftime lead before Yarmouth awakened with a vengeance in the second half and went on to a 5-1 victory en route to another Gold Ball.

Saturday, on a gorgeous fall afternoon (75 degrees at kickoff), the Rangers sought their first win over Yarmouth since Sept. 9, 2014 (1-0 at Yarmouth), but the Clippers came to life after halftime.

The first half was one of frustration for the hosts.

After LaBrie missed wide on a free kick from up top, LaBrie got the ball just in front, but couldn’t settle it and shot high.

Later in the half, Yarmouth senior Evan Van Lonkhuyzen headed a shot high, senior Will Dickinson shot over the crossbar, LaBrie did the same and after taking a pass from junior Steve Fulton, senior Cam Merrill missed wide.

“The funny thing is, we worked on finishing (in practice) last night,” Hagerty said. “We had a lot of balls drop in the box and we got to three or four of them, but we rushed them and kicked them over (the crossbar).”

Clippers junior goalkeeper Colburn Snyder saved the only shot on frame he faced, off the foot of junior Owen Kany, and the contest remained scoreless at the break.

You can only hold Yarmouth in check so long, however, and the Clippers eventually found their way.

With 31:33 to go, Merrill nearly put the hosts on top, but he was robbed by diving Greely junior goalkeeper Luca Duina.

The next Yarmouth chance finally led to a goal.

With 28:03 remaining, LaBrie got the ball on the left side and absolutely fooled a pair of Rangers’ defenders as he made his way into the box. LaBrie then passed to McLaughlin and McLaughlin fired a shot through a screen which Duina couldn’t stop and the Clippers went ahead for good.

“At halftime, we talked about moving the ball more and getting diagonal balls going and playing more calm,” said LaBrie. “Greely played three in the back, so it was easier to play diagonal balls through and get chances. I didn’t see any options, so I decided to take it myself and see what I could make out of it. It turned into a goal and I was proud of that.”

“We said at halftime, ‘You’re doing everything right, just do it better,'” said Hagerty. “We were making good decisions and good runs and the balls were served in the right spots. I said, ‘Let’s just do it cleaner’ and they did a nice job. Sometimes young teams can get frustrated when they don’t score, but I thought our kids kept our composure and kept playing.”

After the ice was broken, the second goal came much more quickly.

With 25:12 left, Hunter sent a long pass ahead to a streaking LaBrie on the left. LaBrie then fired a low shot with his left foot past a diving Duina and the lead was 2-0.

“Will had a nice feed and I just had to finish,” said LaBrie.

“(LaBrie’s) fast and can finish,” lamented longtime Greely coach Mike Andreasen. “(Yarmouth) lost some of their star power from last eyar, but they still have a LaBrie.”

Yarmouth’s third goal in a 4-minute-52-second span came with 23:11 on the clock. LaBrie took a couple touches at the top of the box, got a sliver of room, then ripped a shot which Duina, diving to his right, had no chance to stop.

“I faked a couple shots, then when I had an opening, I just took it,” LaBrie said.

“It’s 10 straight years for us with a LaBrie,” Hagerty said. “I asked (his mother) to get pregnant again and she laughed at me and so I said, adopt?

“Ian was impressive tonight. Ian’s got the ability. Sometimes, he tries to do too much and he didn’t today. His touches were better. He picked his time to take multiple touches and found his angles. Ian asked to play more in the midfield. Sometimes coaches have to listen to their players, so we gave it a shot. He’s become so much better as a midfielder going forward than a striker. He’s dangerous going to goal. You see that speed coming at you and it’s nervewracking.”

The Rangers tried to answer, but a corner kick was easily cleared and a shot from senior Jonathon Piesik on a free kick was denied by Yarmouth junior goalkeeper Zhi Cowles, who had entered the game at halftime.

Late in regulation, Greely had one more chance, but a header from sophomore Tate Nadeau went just wide.

Then, with 3:56 left, after a foul in the box on a corner kick, the Clippers were awarded a penalty kick and LaBrie wasted no time stepping to the line and sending a shot into the upper right corner to make it 4-0.

“I knew where I wanted to go,” said LaBrie. “I don’t know if I was supposed to take that PK, but I wanted to. I just buried it. It’s our last season. I don’t know if I’ll play in college after, so I’m just making the most of this right now.”

Yarmouth ran out the clock from there and notched another win over its rival, which simply had no answers for the Clippers in the second half.

“That’s what Yarmouth does,” Andreasen said. “They compete and go hard for 80 minutes. There’s no let-up. They fix the ship and come at you if you don’t meet their intensity. We got down against Falmouth the other night and kept competing, but tonight, it just wasn’t the same. They have hardworking kids who know their roles and they keep you away from their goalies.”

The Clippers finished with an 8-2 advantage in shots on frame and a 9-1 edge in corners. Both Yarmouth goalies, Cowles and Snyder, made one save, while Duina made four saves for the Rangers.

More rivalry games

The teams will meet again Oct. 31 in Cumberland, but both will be challenged in the interim.

Greely is back in action next Saturday when Cape Elizabeth pays a visit. Two games versus Freeport and another against Falmouth loom before the Clippers pay a visit.

“I’m hoping when we play (Yarmouth) at our place, we can compete with them for 80 minutes and not just 50,” Andreasen said. “It’s about consistency for us. Unfortunately, the schedule just has no breaks. Usually, you have 10 tough games and four when you have a breather, but there are no breathers this year.”

Yarmouth, meanwhile, goes to Freeport Thursday in a rematch of last year’s semifinals (a 2-0 Clippers’ victory). Yarmouth then meets Falmouth, North Yarmouth Academy, Freeport and Mt. Ararat before closing in Cumberland.

“These guys have been so good in practice every day,” said Hagerty. “Their focus is great. The seniors are so happy to play. They’re having fun. We have a very welcoming group of captains, which is key, especially in a year like this one.”