Yarmouth frustrates Greely again in a thriller

Greely junior Owen Kany plays the ball while Yarmouth senior Ian LaBrie defends during Saturday’s contest. LaBrie’s late goal gave the Clippers a 3-2 victory.

CUMBERLAND—Last time, it wasn’t close, but this time, Greely’s boys’ soccer team had longtime nemesis Yarmouth on the ropes.

But the Rangers couldn’t deliver a knockout blow and once again, they were left lamenting what-if following a showdown with their rival.

Saturday afternoon at Glen A. Hutchins Field, Greely twice rallied from a deficit and forged a tie, but never could take the lead and when the Clippers scored late, a third comeback wasn’t in the cards.

Yarmouth, playing in its season finale, scored the only goal of the first half, when junior Sawyer Flowerdew converted with 10:44 to go.

The Rangers roared right back less than four minutes into the second half, when senior Lucas Goettel’s free kick took an unexpected bounce into the net.

The Clippers retook the lead, 2-1, when senior Evan Van Lonkhuysen set up junior Sutter Augur for a goal with 17:33 to play, but less than six minutes later, Greely senior Chris Williams fought for the ball in the box, won it, then finished to tie it again.

But Yarmouth would have the last laugh, as with 7:24 to play, senior Cam Merrill set up classmate Ian LaBrie, who scored three goals in the teams’ first meeting, for the go-ahead tally and the Clippers went on to a 3-2 victory.

Yarmouth extended its unbeaten streak to 17 games in the series, finished its campaign at 7-2-1 and in the process, dropped the Rangers to 4-4-1.

“The seniors got the majority of the playing time today and did a really nice job competing,” said Clippers coach Mike Hagerty, who ends the season with 297 victories in his 24 seasons with the program. “It’s not the season they wished for, but they made the most of it. ”

History repeats

Greely fell at Cape Elizabeth, 2-0, in its first game, won at Gray-New Gloucester (6-0), then played visiting Falmouth to a 2-2 tie, was shut out at Yarmouth (4-0), then rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat visiting Cape Elizabeth (5-2) and blanked visiting Freeport (4-0). After falling at Falmouth (5-0), the Rangers knocked off host Freeport, 2-1, Thursday.

Yarmouth opened with a 7-0 win over Mt. Ararat, then, following a 1-0 setback at Falmouth, downed host Cape Elizabeth and visiting Greely by 4-0 margins, then held on to beat host Freeport, 1-0. After losing at home to Falmouth, 3-0, the Clippers handled visiting North Yarmouth Academy (7-1), settled for a 1-1 home draw against Freeport, then blanked host Mt. Ararat, 2-0, Wednesday.

In the teams’ first meeting, Oct. 10, Yarmouth scored four second half goals, three by LaBrie, as it improved to 15-0-1 in the past 16 games in the series (see below, for previous results).

Saturday, on a sunny but cold afternoon (temperatures hovered in the low 40s throughout), the Rangers sought their first win over Yarmouth since Sept. 9, 2014 (1-0 at Yarmouth) and their first over the Clippers in Cumberland since Oct. 10, 2007, but Yarmouth found a way to prevail again as it sent its accomplished senior class out in style.

The Clippers had a couple good looks early, but Greely junior goalkeeper Luca Duina saved shots by Yarmouth seniors Will Hunter and Will Dickinson.

After the Rangers’ first shot, from senior Daniel Geary, was saved by Clippers junior goalkeeper Zhi Cowles, Dickinson had a shot saved and senior Baden McLaughlin missed wide.

Greely then had a couple near misses, as Goettel fired a shot in the box that sailed high and a long free kick from senior Jonathon Piesik was saved by Cowles.

With 10:44 remaining in the first half, Yarmouth broke the ice, thanks to the determination of Flowerdew.

After taking a pass from junior Aiden Kamm, Flowerdew got past Duina and had to fight with a defender for the ball, but he wouldn’t be denied and sent the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.

After Cowles stopped a bid from senior Benjamin Hirsh at one end and Duina denied a shot from Van Lonkhuyzen at the other, the game went to the half with the Clippers up by a goal.

Yarmouth had a 6-2 edge in shots on frame in the first half, but Duina’s five saves kept the Rangers in it.

The Clippers looked to double their lead out of the half, but a Merrill shot, off a cross from senior Will Cox, was saved by a diving Duina.

Greely then drew even with 36:21 left, as Goettel took a free kick from 25 yards out and it landed in front of junior Cole Snyder, who had replaced Cowles at halftime, but the bounce eluded the keeper and found the net to make it 1-1.

Yarmouth wasn’t fazed, as Merrill and LaBrie missed just wide, then, in a wild sequence, Hunter ripped a shot off the crossbar and on the rebound, Van Lonkhyzen’s shot hit the top of the crossbar.

After Clippers junior back Kevin Kamm broke up a rush by Rangers sophomore Ethan Njitoh, Yarmouth went back on the attack and with 17:33 remaining, Van Lonkhuyzen made a nice run up the left side, passed in front and Augur was there to tap the ball home for a 2-1 advantage.

“Evan made that great run,” Hagerty said. “If he’s not one of the top five players in the state and deserving of All-New England, I don’t know who is. He’s contributed from freshman year on. I’m happy for him.”

Again, Greely roared back.

After a corner kick didn’t result in a shot and Njitoh’s run into the box was broken up by Kevin Kamm, Williams took care of business himself.

With 11:50 left in regulation, Williams took a pass from Goettel and managed to fight his way through the defense before beating Snyder to tie the game, 2-2.

But the Clippers wouldn’t allow the Rangers to go on top and with 7:24 left, the visitors took the lead for good, courtesy LaBrie, who took a pass from Merrill, got the ball behind the defense, then ripped a shot that Duina couldn’t stop for a 3-2 lead.

“I was thinking the whole game that I wanted (a goal),” LaBrie said. “It wasn’t looking too good in the first half, but we got the ball moving in the second half. We created some chances and luckily, I got one. I poked out my leg and poked the ball free from a defender, then had the open shot.”

“I think Greely’s really happy that (Ian) is the last LaBrie (brother),” said Hagerty. “He’s really found another gear since the first Greely game. He’s had four games in two goals against them and it’s not like they have a shoddy defense. I’m really proud of Ian and all the seniors, especially after (Greely) tied it up twice.”

With under three minutes left, Greely had a couple more chances, but off a corner kick, the ball was cleared by Yarmouth junior Steve Fulton and second later, Williams got into the box, but Kevin Kamm made one last strong defensive play, knocking the ball away, and the Clippers ran out the clock on their 3-2 victory.

“We wanted to win and we weren’t going to let up,” Van Lonkhuyzen said. “We played well on defense and obviously, played well on offense since we scored three times.”

“Kevin Kamm and Sutter Augur are fighting it out for Most Improved Player this year,” Hagerty said. “Kevin takes little touches to get himself out of trouble that a lot of backs don’t. I think he had a fabulous game today, especially against Williams, who’s very tough and physical. Sutter and Kevin are both playing well enough to start and get big minutes in big games. They consistently make smart decisions.

“Steve Fulton played really well in the middle. I thought both Baden and Will Hunter did a good job in the offensive midfield spot. Baden’s one of the most underrated midfielders in the state. He does a lot of good things offensively and defensively.”

Yarmouth had a 10-4 advantage in shots, took six corner kicks to Greely’s three and got two saves from Cowles.

The Clippers also finished their season with a victory for the sixth time in seven years, but unlike the previous five occasions, they didn’t get a Gold Ball to go with it.

“We knew going into the season there wouldn’t be a state championship, so it was about playing hard every game,” Van Lonkhuyzen said. “It’s nice finishing the year with such a good result. It was weird as the time was winding down, I realized it’s the last time I’d play (for Yarmouth). I have so many friends in my grade and it was great to play with them.”

“My four years have been awesome,” LaBrie said. “So many amazing players came through the program that I played with. It was great to learn from them.”

“At least we won our last game,” Hagerty added. “I think that us and (defending Class C champion) Waynflete and Falmouth all would have had a great chance to repeat, but I’m thankful we got 10 games in.”

The Rangers got seven saves from Duina, but their valiant effort fell just short.

“I feel that when Yarmouth beats us, one big component is that they usually play harder than we do, but in this game, Yarmouth played smarter than we did,” said longtime Greely coach Mike Andreasen. “We made some unfortunate decisions. At critical junctures, championship teams make plays and teams that aren’t championship teams make excuses.

“Falmouth had us by two goals here and we battled back. Cape had us by two goals here and we battled back. (Yarmouth) never had us by two, but we had to battle back. This one hurts because it was doable. The playing field was more even this year. I thought we could have at least come out with a draw. When they scored to go up on us, we played hard and when we tied it, they played hard. The kids play hard, but the kids on both teams play clean.”

On to 2021

The 2020 campaign has been short and sweet and both squads look forward to big things, and normalcy, in 2021.

Greely is scheduled to play one more game, when it hosts two-time Class C champion Waynflete Thursday.

“We’ve had a good run,” said Andreasen. “Going 4-4-1 with the schedule we’ve had is very good. We’ve had great senior leadership and this team has never quit. I have some sophomores who have had a great year learning. We lose Chris Williams, Lucas Goettel and Jonny Piesik (to graduation), but hopefully we’ll have some other kids step into the mix for when we play for keeps again.”

Yarmouth is finished for the fall and as always, it will be tough to say goodbye to a very accomplished senior class (who posted a four-year record of 53-3-6, with two state championships), but as always, the Clippers’ future is very bright.

“We can play until Nov. 14, so we’ll do some fun stuff,” Hagerty said. “We’ll be very good next year. We have a good junior class returning and a lot of depth and the incoming freshman class is one of our best in years, so I’m excited for the future.”