AUBURN – There’s never a dull moment when the boys’ soccer teams from North Yarmouth Academy and St. Dom’s reunite.

Wednesday’s match up lived up to that physical and emotionally charged history.

NYA handed the Saints their first loss of the season with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory.

It was a much-needed win for the Panthers (2-4-1), coming off a 6-0 loss Monday against Falmouth.

“It’s a good win,” said NYA coach Mark Primeau. “We’ve got a really challenging schedule, and these are the games we need to win.”

It was a frustrating loss for St. Dom’s (6-1), which had a goal taken away and had injured starter, Danny Street, helped off the field twice. He got hit in the knee and suffered a hit to the sternum before leaving the game. The Saints also lost starter Ben Randall for 10 minutes in the second half to a yellow card and lost starting forward Jack Erickson to a red card with 23:13 remaining. St. Dom’s played the rest of regulation down one player.

St. Dom’s coach Matt Erickson was livid over the officiating. Following the game, the Saints players all shook hands with the Panthers in a show of respect and sportsmanship but refused to shake the hand of the head official. When Erickson walked past him, he had a few choice words. Erickson declined to comment on the officiating or the impact it had on the game.

“That team definitely came ready to play and played a hard-fought match,” said Erickson. “They’re historically a strong team. We beat them last year in the semifinals. They wanted to come here and play hard, and they did.”

NYA and St. Dom’s games typically feature ample physical contact. That breeds frustration and emotion when not controlled by officials. That appeared to be the case Wednesday.

At one point in the first half, after Erickson had complained about a lack of calls, a foul was called on a Saints player. A linesman antagonized Erickson by saying, “How’d you like that one.” It set the tone for a contentious and emotional game.

“It was tough playing a man down,” said Erickson. “That definitely hinged in their favor.”

The Saints took a 1-0 lead at 9:12. A Jon Mulderig dead ball near midfield was put in front. Casey Parker crossed it to the middle for Randall. St. Dom’s, which outshot NYA 10-4 in the first half, thought it had a 2-0 lead with 5:14 left in the half. Matt Barlion centered the ball for a Parker header. Play was stopped and teams were at the midfield ready to begin again. The head official hadn’t realized a linesman had his flag up. Offsides was called, nullifying the goal.

The Panthers produced a strong second half and gained confidence as the game progressed. St. Dom’s, meanwhile, got more frustrated and distracted.

NYA tied the game when Peter Hyndman made a cross from the left side. Calvin Chicione put it in from the right post.

St. Dom’s lost Randall to a yellow when he questioned an official with 27:29 left. Erickson was ejected with 23:13 remaining after a flagrant foul.

With 21:01 left, another Hyndman cross was converted by Cameron Smith for the lead. Mohamed Dahia added a third goal with 10:13 left.

“We’re a team without superstar,” said Primeau. “We need to play simple ball without mistakes. When we do that for stretches of time, we’re all right.”