Luke Welch deposits the game-winner for NYA.
By Kevin Mills
Staff Writer

NORTH YARMOUTH – In a game where just about every player with the ball got bumped, pushed, shoved or tackled, Luke Welch found a little freedom.

The Auburn native discovered a few moments of peace and ample amount of space to free himself up for a goal that lifted his North Yarmouth Academy boys’ soccer team to a 1-0 win over St. Dominic’s in a Western C quarterfinal Saturday. The Panthers advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals at second-seeded Mt. Abram.

“They get pumped up for us,” said Welch, who had three goals against the Saints in the 3-0 regular season win. “They hate losing to NYA. So it felt good to win.”

The two teams were expected to meet in the regional final or at least the semifinals, but the Saints forfeit of six games changed that. So two of the top Western C teams met in the first round, with the Saints going home early.

“I told the kids before the game: ‘Do you want to be the Red Sox or do you want to be the Yankees?'” said NYA coach Ben Graham, whose team split with St. Dom’s, losing 2-1 in Auburn. “As much as it probably pains their parents, they all said they wanted to be the Yankees.”

It was what you’d expect in a game featuring two long-time rivals. It was a hard-fought physical battle for 80 minutes. Neither team backed down and the emotions only intensified as the game progressed. At one point in the second half, the officials stopped the clock to warn players about getting out of control. When two players got into shoving match a few minutes later, both received yellow cards. By game’s end the Saints (8-8) were screaming at the officials over infractions they thought weren’t called. St. Dom’s coach Lee Hixon drew a yellow card at game’s end for his comments to the officials.

“Both sides played an incredible game, there’s no question about that,” said Hixon. “I think the officials let the game get out of control. They called things that shouldn’t have been called. They didn’t call things that should have been called – on both sides. They just became inconsistent at the end.”

Amidst all the body contact, Welch managed to find enough room to unload the game-winner with 17:29 left. He collected the ball in the midfield and made a run on the right side.

“I was thinking when I got the ball they were going to collapse on me,” said Welch. “So I was trying to play it off to my teammates. They marked me hard. I guess I broke free on that one.”

He had about 10 yards of space and let go a shot when he ran out of room. His shot from about 20 yards out found the left corner of the net.

“I saw a guy stepping up,” said Welch. “So I let it rip. I got a good piece of it.”

NYA (10-5) had just started putting more pressure on the Saints in the second half. The Panthers had just missed taking the lead when a header by Dimitrios Pilitsis hit the crossbar.

Earlier in the half, the Saints had their best chance of the game. Chris Dubay sent a ball toward the net from the midfield. It bounced and Shawn Longely had charged in for a header, only to watch it get redirected wide.

“There’s a playoff game in its purest form,” said Graham. “Both teams wanted it and it got physical. That’s part of the game. That’s why it’s the best game in the world, to be honest. I don’t think I could handle that many of those.”

The two teams had plenty of chances in the opening half. Welch had a point-blank shot go over the net and a direct kick that was saved. Ryan Guerin had a free kick bobbled by NYA goalie Jason Kroot when he slipped. Longley had a couple of bids and Patrick Ouellette had a shot go wide after cutting in on the left side.

Longley was also hauled down in the box early in the half but no call was made, drawing the early ire of the Saints.

“Before the game began, both the officials said: ‘We’re going to let you play, but if it’s a foul in the area, it’s a foul in the area and we will call it,'” said Hixon. “Apparently, they didn’t go that way. A PK early on would have changed the whole tempo of the game.”

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