LIVERMORE FALLS – Kelsie Taylor wasn’t part of the first girls’ soccer playoff win for Poland last fall, but the junior transfer made sure she played a significant role in Friday’s victory.

Taylor, who transferred from Gray-New Gloucester this year, scored three goals to lead the Knights to a 4-0 Western B preliminary win.

“It feels good,” Taylor said. “We’ve come a long way.”

The win advances Poland to next week’s quarterfinal game against Falmouth. The Knights won their first-ever playoff game last fall against Lincoln Academy and subsequently lost to the Yachtsmen 5-0.

After eking into the playoffs in the 10th seed, the Knights (6-7-2) are thrilled about another chance to play.

“We’re really excited for our girls,” Poland coach Aaron Rand said. “We set a school record for wins. We’ve had five each year, and today we got our sixth. We haven’t been very good on the road this year. To come out and play this well on the road is a nice surprise.”

Friday was the first playoff game for the Livermore Falls/Jay Wildcats. After their first winning season, the Wildcats couldn’t match Poland’s skill and experience.

“It’s our second season,” said coach Travis Magnusson, whose club nearly avoided a prelim by earning the sixth seed. “We were 6-4. We had a great year. To host a preliminary was just gravy. The girls have nothing to hang their head about. We had a huge crowd here. A couple years ago there were just two or three people in the crowd.”

Taylor, who saw playoff action as a freshman for the Patriots, scored from the right side with 19:40 left in the first half. The Knights outshot the Wildcats 9-3 in that half and took the lead following a corner kick that set up Taylor for an open shot. Kate Bridgham had the assist.

“That got our heads up,” said Taylor, who now has 16 of Poland’s 24 goals this year. “We knew we could play our game and succeed and win.”

The Wildcats had their best opportunities following the Knights’ goal. Jennica Turner had a shot in front and Lexi Deering had a breakaway bid that went wide.

“The first 20 minutes of the game, we just dominated,” Rand said. “They didn’t give up. They came back.”

Poland broke the game open early in the second half. Taylor chipped a shot through a crowd that snuck past screened Wildcat keeper Katie Beaulieu. That made it 2-0 with 29:46 to play.

“That was a lot of teamwork and a lot of passing,” said Taylor, who converted a Tessa Mascetta feed on the goal.

Taylor Girouard scored with 26:22 left on a Sophie Geelhoed assist. Then Taylor completed the hat trick with 11:45 left. Sam St. Pierre had five saves to earn the shutout in goal.

“We had a game plan to attack the left side and work it to the middle,” Rand said. “We controlled play and got a kick in, and that took the wind out of their sails.”

The Wildcats (6-5-4) kept charging with Deering and Hillary Deane trying to make things happen up front, but Poland’s ability to finish proved too much to answer.

“All year long we’ve had the breaks,” Magnusson said. “Other teams would hit the crossbar, and we dodged some bullets. Today, they got every break.”