AUBURN – Motivation for Tuesday’s soccer game could be summed up in two words – day off.

That’s what Matt Erickson promised St. Dom’s if it could win the regular-season finale against Class B Fryeburg. The Saints did just that with a resounding 4-1 win.

“I told the boys basically at the beginning of the game, ‘If you come out and play well, you have Saturday off. If you don’t, we’ll be playing Saturday, and we’ll likely be on the road.'” said the St. Dom’s coach. “That kind of fired them up.”

The Saints were ranked fifth in the latest Western C Heal Points. Fryeburg was ranked seventh in Western B. The win over the Raiders should boost the Saints high enough to avoid a preliminary game Saturday. Erickson thinks the win might put St. Dom’s as high as second or third.

The day off is good for the Saints but a higher seeding was just as important to the defending Class C state champs.

“We really wanted to get all the points we could from the Heal Points and get home field advantage,” said senior forward Matt Barlion. “That was the biggest thing for me.”

Barlion had two goals for the Saints (11-3) while Danny Street had a goal and an assist. Josh Charest also scored.

“We got back to our style of play,” said Erickson. “It was a pretty good game from everyone. Everyone played.”

The Saints struck just 2:03 into the game. Street put a ball forward for Barlion. He outraced the defenders and blasted a shot by keeper Chris Low.

“We got an early goal,” said Barlion. “That’s good. That brought us up. That helps.

Barlion made it 2-0 at 13:09. Off a throw from the left side, he turned and fired a shot off the keeper’s hands and in from 22 yards out.

“I was outside the 18 and got the ball,” said Barlion. “I turned and had a quick shot. The goalie wasn’t ready.”

Fryeburg’s only threat in the first half came off a rush by Johannes Henke. He had a shot deflect off Saints keeper Aaron Allen and hit the left post before going over the endline.

With 13:37 left in the half, Street had a free kick from the left side. He put the shot into the upper right corner. Then with 6:46 left, a Barlion free kick was knocked down by Low. Casey Parker got a foot on the rebound, and Charest finished it off at the right post.

The Raiders (10-3-1) got a goal by Henke just 1:15 into the second half, but the Saints got a solid effort from its bench and took back control of the game.

“The second half we brought in a lot of players that are not regular starters,” said Erickson. “They played great and that’s what was encouraging.”