YARMOUTH—North Yarmouth Academy’s boys’ soccer team came to life in the second half Saturday afternoon at Lewis Field.

But that was too late to produce a victory against a talented foe, the visiting Traip Academy Rangers.

Traip Academy continued its undefeated start to the season by virtue of a dangerous, balanced attack that the Panthers weren’t able to neutralize.

After several near-misses, the Rangers went on top to stay in the 32nd minute, when junior Jack Peyron served in a corner kick that was headed home by senior Dylan Santamaria.

With 4:26 to go before halftime, the tandem switched things up, as Santamaria fed Peyron for a 2-0 advantage.

NYA then started the second half strong, getting a goal less than six minutes in from sophomore Theo Fahlgren, but with 27:45 to play, Peyron pushed the Traip Academy lead back to two with his second goal of the afternoon.

The Panthers made things interesting with 9:40 left, when senior Cooper St. Hilaire scored to cut the deficit to one, but with 8:24 remaining, the Rangers put it away, as Santamaria set up senior Conor McPherson for the dagger, which led to a 4-2 victory.

Traip Academy improved to 4-0 on the season and in the process, dropped NYA to 2-4.

“Traip played well,” said Panthers first-year coach Branden Noltkamper. “Hats off to them. They were organized, they had a plan and it worked for them. They had more chances. We’ll move on and learn from this and grow and get better.”

Still learning

NYA got to the Class D state final in 2021 and lost to Lee Academy. The Panthers welcomed a challenging schedule this fall, hoping it makes them battle-tested for the playoffs. After opening with a 6-0 setback at three-time reigning Class C champion Waynflete and a 1-0 loss at Richmond, NYA beat host Wells (4-1), took two-time reigning Class B champion Yarmouth to the wire in a 2-1 road loss, then blanked visiting St. Dom’s Wednesday, 1-0.

Traip Academy, meanwhile, won its first three games, 4-1 over Sacopee Valley, 6-1 over St. Dom’s and 2-1 over Wells.

Last year, the teams split, each winning on the road, Traip Academy 2-0 in Yarmouth and NYA 2-1 in Kittery.

Saturday, on another terrific late-summer day (64 degrees at kickoff), the Rangers proved to be too potent offensively to beat.

The tone was set early, as Traip Academy got three good looks, but Peyron’s shot was saved by Panthers senior goalkeeper Tanner Anctil, Santamaria missed wide, then Santamaria fired a shot high.

NYA’s first chance came in the fifth minute, but St. Hilaire missed just wide after a turnover.

In the seventh minute, junior Ethan Brochu had a chance to put the Panthers on top, but Rangers sophomore goalkeeper Jack Downs went sprawling to make the stop.

In the ninth minute, junior Quinn Alessi sent a header off the crossbar for Traip Academy and moments later, Anctil had to dive to save a bid from senior David Durling.

With 28:45 left in the half, Anctil denied Santamaria point blank and at the other end, St. Hilaire served the ball into the box where Downs barely beat senior Rodgers Crowley to break up the play, but Downs was injured in the ensuing collision and had to leave the game. He was replaced by senior Terry Gagner.

Gagner was tested with 16:45 remaining before halftime and he juggled, then safely cradled a bid from senior Wyatt Thomas.

After an NYA defender headed away a Santamaria cross at the last instant, the Rangers took the lead with 8:59 on the clock.

The goal came off a corner kick and Peyron served the ball to the back post, where Santamaria was waiting to head it home.

After Thomas and Crowley missed good looks to tie it, Traip Academy struck again with 4:26 left in the half, as after a turnover, Santamaria passed the ball to Peyron in the box. Peyron settled the ball, then fired it past a diving Anctil to make it 2-0.

“We just stayed focused,” said Traip Academy coach Mike Macleay. “We hadn’t played on turf yet, so we had to get used to the spin of the ball.”

The Rangers had a 9-2 shots advantage in the first 40 minutes, but seven saves from Anctil kept the Panthers in the game.

NYA then showed some life when the second half began and was rewarded.

After senior Daxton St. Hilaire missed just wide and Gagner punched away a cross from Brochu, Brochu served in a free kick, Crowley got to the ball and passed to Fahlgren, who fired a low shot past Gagner to pull the Panthers within one.

NYA never had a look to equalize and it wasn’t long before Traip Academy was back ahead by two.

After Peyron missed high, Santamaria missed wide on an open net and Anctil had to dive to rob McPherson, Santamaria was brought down by Anctil and a penalty kick was awarded with 28:30 left.

But Santamaria couldn’t extend the lead, as his shot sailed and high and wide.

Undaunted, Traip Academy kept the pressure on and with 27:45 left, got its third goal, as Peyron got the ball in the box, stopped and fired a shot that Anctil couldn’t save, making the score 3-1.

The Panthers refused to quit and after Thomas forced Gagner to make a juggling save and freshman Jackson Bartick was robbed in close, Brochu crossed the ball in front, where Cooper St. Hilaire tipped it home and with 9:40 to play, NYA was back within one, 3-2.

But again, the Panthers’ momentum was short-lived, as the Rangers needed just 76 seconds to deliver the coup de grace.

It was be McPherson doing the honors, with a big assist from Santamaria, who won the ball in the box, then passed to McPherson, who finished.

NYA fought hard to the end and got looks from Daxton St. Hilaire (a shot just wide) and Thomas (who had a free kick headed out).

Traip Academy then ran out the clock and celebrated its 4-2 victory.

“This was a game we had circled to get us into gear,” said Macleay. “They gave us our toughest challenge so far.”

The Rangers finished with a 12-7 shots advantage, got four saves from Gagner, one from Downs and had a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.

The Panthers got eight saves from Anctil, but never could recover from their halftime deficit.

“We scored a goal, then we conceded almost immediately after,” Noltkamper lamented. “It was difficult to go down 2-0 and getting one back gave us some life. Then we made it 3-2 and had more life, then conceded right away again. There’s a lot of growing up we still need to do mentally. We can play better than we did today. We had some kids sick today and it’s tough playing five games in 10 days. We’ve been playing really well, but we just haven’t had much recovery time between games. Our fatigue showed in the second half.”

Waynflete awaits

Traip Academy looks to stay perfect next week, but faces two stern road tests, at York Tuesday and at Waynflete Thursday.

“We’re definitely building,” said Macleay. “This is the second time all year we’ve had everyone for a practice or a game, so it’s nice when we have all our pieces. I kind of expected us to have a good start with the schedule we have, but we’re still getting everybody used to playing together.

“It’s a tough turnaround with York Tuesday night, then Waynflete Thursday. Waynflete has started really well. It will take a team effort to beat them defensively and offensively.”

NYA is idle until next Saturday when it hosts Waynflete and reaches the midway point of its regular season.

“We haven’t been able to train, so having a week off will be nice,” said Noltkamper. “We’re more than capable of competing with anyone in the state and we just have to get over the hump. The goal is to get some (Heal Points).”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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