AUBURN – Good soccer is good soccer, whether you do most of your damage in a loaded Class B and C conference or a widely scattered Class D league.

St. Dominic Regional High School admittedly learned that lesson Monday afternoon, when the Saints needed a goal from junior Matt Barlion with 8:53 remaining in regulation to shake off rambunctious Richmond, 2-1, in an intersectional boys’ clash.

Barlion flagged down a through-ball from senior captain Willie Emerson, caught a Richmond defender leaning and beat goalkeeper Bruce Carver’s dive to the corner of the cage.

“They definitely showed up. I thought we were going to take it a little easier than we did,” Barlion said. “We should come out a lot stronger.”

St. Dom’s (8-1) scratched out a goal at 14:02 of the first half, when freshman Jack Erickson cashed in a splendid left-to-right cross from Dylan Roberts.

When the second goal didn’t come as easily, Richmond (7-1-1) gained enough energy and confidence to nearly pull off the upset.

The Bobcats peppered Saints’ keeper Aaron Allen with the first seven shots of the second half, punctuated by Jason Brown’s tying goal at 9:04.

“We’re a scrappy group of kids who like playing up,” said Richmond coach Joe Scribellito. “When our passing game is on and we can move the ball efficiently, it kind of deflates the other team.”

While the Saints are never far out of the battle for Western Maine Conference and Western Class C supremacy, Richmond is the two-time defending Western D champ.

Its aggressive schedule outside the East-West Conference includes contests with WMC powers St. Dom’s, Sacopee Valley and Waynflete as well as scrimmages against the Kents Hill and Hyde post-graduate squads.

“They’re the powerhouse of Class D. If we don’t come out with our game, they could take it any day,” Erickson said. “I think we play a lot better when we have momentum and we’re fired up. If it gets away from us, it takes a while to get it back.”

Fortunately for the Saints, they have enough speed and familiarity with one another to switch gears and generate a goal at a moment’s notice.

Erickson and Barlion combined to keep Carver (15 saves) on his toes several other times in the second half, missing the posts and the crossbar by a whisker but hinting at the game-winner to come.

“Some of these players have played together since they were 9, through youth soccer, so there’s a certain level of understanding that we rely on out there,” said Matt Erickson, the Saints’ first-year varsity coach. “In fact, all the point scorers today played together when they were younger.”

Allen made 14 saves to support the Saints, whose defensive stalwarts Daniel Ouellette, Cameron McKee, Garrett Darnell and Roberts helped keep Richmond strikers Brown and Andy Harrington under control.