Boys' soccer tournamant: Saints meet their goals in 2-0 win

AUBURN — You know it is a pretty good day when you have two goals disallowed and you don't even need them.

The St. Dom's boys' soccer team didn't need the goals that weren't. That's because the Saints had two others that held up in a convincing 2-0 win over Wiscasset Saturday. The semifinal victory advances St. Dom's to Wednesday's Western C final. The Saints will host old rivals North Yarmouth Academy, which beat Georges Valley.

A year ago, the Saints lost to Waynflete in the semifinal in penalty kicks. St. Dom's was determined to avoid a similar fate. The Saints got a first half goal from Cam Brown and one from Alex Parker in the second half as the Saints posted their 11th shutout of the year, third against the Redskins.

"We didn't want that same feeling," said junior midfielder Kurt Johnson. "So we kept our composure. Losing in PK's last year at this stage of the playoffs was really heartbreaking, and we wanted to go further."

The Saints (16-0) lost their composure in that loss against the Flyers last year and allowed Waynflete to believe in themselves and their chances to beat the higher-seeded Saints. St. Dom's didn't allow Wiscasset (10-5-1) the same opportunity. Though the second half got a little chippy, the Saints, for the most part,  played a very methodical game and played with their feet and not their mouths.

"I was proud of the boys in that regard," said St. Dom's coach Matt Erickson. "They didn't get emotional. It was very businesslike. They want to have the opportunity to compete another day, and they've got that."

The Saints defensive effort was superb. Led by senior Jameson Peterson, the Saints only allowed three shots. St. Dom's keeper Nick Brigham played more balls sent his way by defenders in the second half than he did Redskins shots. Wiscasset was outshot 16-2 in the first half and 8-1 in the second.

"I think it was all about controlling the midfield," said senior midfielder Trevar Haefele. "The middies really got back and worked really hard."

Wiscasset has had a challenging week. The school has faced an H1N1 (swine) flu problem and the death of a student. The Redskins had 11 players out sick at one point in the week. Their quarterfinal against Mt. Abram was postponed a day and a shorthanded Wiscasset club beat the Roadrunners 3-0 to earn a third meeting with the Saints. St. Dom's beat Wiscasset convincing 6-0 at home earlier in the year and lost 1-0 on the smaller field on the road.

"They're definitely the strongest team we've played all year," said Erickson. "They had some issues at school that may have been distracting. In light of all that, they really played great."

Wiscasset's best chance came early in the game when Brigham came out of the goal to break up a rush but couldn't control the ball. That left Caleb Bryant alone with the ball and an open net, but he put the shot over the goal.

A few minutes later, the Saints made it 1-0 with 23:45 left in the half. St. Dom's had already had one goal disallowed because of an offsides call, but when Johnson crossed a ball from the left side, Brown was there to put it in at the far post.

"We knew we wanted to come in and establish our tempo and play our game," said Johnson. "Last time, was a really close game. We wanted to set the precedent that we were going to control the ball this game."

The Redskins struggled to mount an offensive counter in the first half but were able to get some kind of rush going at times against the Saints. When St. Dom's scored just 2:59 into the second half, it sapped what fight Wiscasset had left. Haefle fed Parker in front. He was left alone and caught the Redskin defense standing around.

"The air went out of them at the end of the first half," said Erickson. "Our players could sense it, but the two goal margin is so key in this game. It's not time to sit back and relax but you can play with confidence."

St. Dom's did just that. It controlled play and Wiscasset could do little to mount a comeback. The Redskins managed just one shot the rest of the way. The Saints even had another goal taken back when an indirect kick went in before being touched.

"We possessed a great deal of the game," said Erickson. "I would say probably 70 percent of the possessing was ours. We link passed together pretty well. We like to move the ball around and get them to chase us."