By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – One-nil final scores are plentiful in playoff soccer games, of course.

Still, no casual observer of the first eight minutes of Wednesday’s Eastern Class A boys’ preliminary clash at Mt. Blue, or the last eight minutes for that matter, would have expected the Cougars’ goal in the ninth minute to complete the scoring.

The Mt. Blue defense did its job throughout, though, and freshman Zac Conlogue’s redirection at the end of a direct kick held up as the Cougars’ meal ticket to the next round in a 1-0 win over No. 9 Lawrence.

Devin Ferreira notched the assist at 8:39 of the first half after his header fell shy of the cage. Conlogue caught Lawrence goalie Josh Shepherd leaning and pushed the rebound into the lower left corner of the cage.

Mt. Blue (9-5-1) shut out Lawrence (7-7-1) for the second time in less than a month and advanced to a quarterfinal game at unbeaten, top-seeded Mt. Ararat at noon Saturday.

“I had confidence in our defense,” said Mt. Blue coach Joel Smith. “We beat them 3-0 the last time we played them after they got us 1-0 at their place. We had to address a few defensive issues at halftime. I think we came out, played much better and limited them to a lot fewer quality shots.”

Indeed, Lawrence’s number of legitimate bids against senior goalie Justin Davis dwindled from 10 to four after the break.

That’s not to say there weren’t any anxious moments late in the wide-open, physical game.

Davis (nine saves) denied a blistering bid by Steve Grudda after Evan Bois won a 50-50 ball with five minutes left.

Later, senior captain Greg Allen’s strong leg short-circuited athe Bulldogs’ hopes for a rebound opportunity after Grudda’s initial shot fell shy of the net in the final two minutes of regulation.

Allen’s booming free kicks and senior Dan Hayden’s explosive perimeter speed gave the Cougars numerous chances to break it open, too. Shepherd was up to the task with 16 saves.

“We didn’t have many shutouts during the regular season,” said Allen, “but we feel we’re starting to peak at the right time.”

Ferreira, freshman Ben Russell and senior co-captain Elliot Kendall each joined Allen with a stellar defensive effort.

Emotions boiled over, at times, with the officials handing out five yellow cards and ejecting Lawrence midfielder Alex Merrill for multiple infractions.

“I think Mt. Blue and Lawrence was a pretty big rivalry to begin with, but over the last three years it’s really started to pick up in soccer,” Smith said. “We have a lot of respect for them.”