READFIELD – It took more than 20 minutes for the Yarmouth Clippers to warm up Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the Maranacook Black Bears, the Clippers never cooled down again.

The third-seeded Clippers scored twice during a span of 30 seconds in the first half and dominated play afterward in knocking off the No. 2 Black Bears by a 5-2 margin in a Western B semifinal girls’ soccer match.

On the cold and soggy field, the Black Bears (14-2) led 1-0 on an early goal by freshman Sarah Pokorny. They actually controlled play for the first 10 minutes, but it was all Clippers (11-2-3) after that.

The Clippers outshot Maranacook 26-7 and put 16 shots on goal after the intermission before the Black Bears got their first shot of the second half.

“I actually thought they’d have more problems in the mud than we would,” said Maranacook coach Peter Poulin. “But we had more problems. It’s definitely a different level of soccer that they play.”

The Clippers were listless until Jen Senecal converted a pass from Anne Clabby into a goal with 19:06 left in the first half. Senecal was open in front and fired a low, left-footed shot past Black Bear keeper Erin Neptune (12 saves).

Seconds later, the Clippers took the lead.

With the Maranacook defense still reeling from Senecal’s score, Ana Petrovek was left unmarked in front and popped a shot into the top corner that Neptune could only partially deflect.

“It was pretty even at the beginning,” said Yarmouth coach Rich Smith. “It definitely startled us a bit. To tie it up was one thing. To get a couple of goals back-to-back put them away. They couldn’t recover after that.”

The Clippers kept the ball in the Black Bear end of the field for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Less than four minutes in, Senecal notched her second goal. After her initial rocketed shot was stopped by Neptune, the senior forward found the ball on her foot moments later. This time she lofted the ball over Neptune.

“It was kind of upsetting that she stopped the first one,” said Senecal. “It was one after another, like a pinball. I just saw the opening and took it.”

Tierney Minte added an insurance goal with 24:48 left in the match as the Clippers continued with their pinball attack. The Yarmouth junior carried the ball down the left wing with a pair of defenders on her. When she cut to the inside, both defenders fell down and allowed Minte to walk in on Neptune and blast a shot to the short side of the net.

Later in the half, Bess Glennon headed in another goal for a 5-1 lead.

After the Clippers pulled their starters, Maranacook’s Emma Prysunka tallied to complete the scoring.

“They made better plays than we did,” said Poulin. “Their passes were on target, and they played better in these conditions than we did.”

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