YARMOUTH — North Yarmouth Academy rarely gets scored upon and hasn’t lost a field hockey regional playoff game since its six seniors were in middle school.

Dirigo had a knack for playing up — or, yes, admittedly down — to the level of its competition and squeezed the most out of its youthful talent throughout an emotional season.

Mix all that together and Saturday’s Western Class C semifinal outcome, a 2-0 NYA triumph at Lewis Field, probably met conventional wisdom right on the nose.

No. 2 NYA (14-2) left the scene with its 10th shutout of the season and a shot at its fifth consecutive regional title. No. 6 Dirigo (6-9-1) departed with a quarterfinal win at Waynflete under its belt, great experience for the future and absolutely no shame.

“We just wanted to make playoffs,” Dirigo coach Gretchen Errington said. “We were just hoping to get in. It was three years since we’ve been here and then forever before that.”

The Panthers shellacked the Cougars in that previous playoff meeting. This one wasn’t fully comfortable for NYA until senior Jen Brown banged home an insurance goal with 6:14 remaining.

Kayla Rose scored in the first half for NYA, which will face either No. 1 Lisbon or No. 4 Traip in Tuesday’s regional championship clash at Scarborough High School.

The other semifinal was postponed due to Friday and Saturday’s persistent rain and won’t be played until Monday afternoon.

NYA is the two-time defending state champion.

“I wouldn’t say we expect it,” Brown said. “It’s a new season each year. Last year we had to prove ourselves because everybody thought since we lost a bunch of people, nobody knew how we were going to be. This year we’re not proving ourselves. We are showing who we are and what we play for.”

In addition to its postseason experience deficit, Dirigo had to deal with NYA’s smooth, fast FieldTurf.

It’s a far cry from the bumpy, crowned and sometimes muddy tracks that prevail in the Mountain Valley Conference. NYA’s pinpoint passing and quick transition from defense to offense caused trouble for Dirigo, particularly in the first 15 minutes of the game.

“We went down to Bates which is (Astro)turf, which is different from this. But they got a feel for what it could be like. We played in the gym a little and got used to getting sticks down,” Errington said. “It is a huge disadvantage coming in and playing on something like this when we’re used to the fields. They had to get a feel for it.”

Further complicating matters, Dirigo’s bus got lost in the center of town and didn’t arrive at the field until 30 minutes before the appointed 1 p.m. start time.

Put together all those circumstances and it’s probably no surprise that the Panthers struck early.

Rose scored in the 12th minute. Olivia Madore took the initial shot and was met with an authoritative kick save by Amanda Dolloff. Rose received the carom just inside the top of the circle and snuck the second offering inside the left post.

“That was our goal today: To play our game at home and to make it pretty. We kept our passing going really well,” Brown said. “We kept trying to get them to send it up to the top so we could get those shots in.”

Errington called an immediate timeout after the goal, and it paid dividends. Play was relatively even for the remainder of the half, with Dirigo actually dominating the offensive opportunities over the final three minutes.

The Cougars’ best chance narrowly missed connection when a centering pass to Rylee L’Italien trickled just wide left of the cage.

“On this turf, passing is a lot. It’s a key. (NYA has) awesome passing, and I told them they needed to get back and mark up instead of chasing, chasing, chasing,” Errington said. “But that’s making adjustments on the fly instead of the way you normally play. It’s not really fair. They’re not used to that kind of stuff. They did the best they could, and we’re very proud of them.”

Two penalty corners gave Dirigo a chance at the equalizer in the second half, leading to the Cougars’ only shot on goal against NYA goalie Elizabeth Coughlin.

But the forays were short-lived. Marina Poole assisted Brown’s goal to close it out.

Dolloff made 10 saves for the Cougars, who dedicated their season to the memory of late teammate Danielle Ranger. Dirigo will graduate only six of its 22 players.

“We’ve played with everybody. We’ve had a really good year,” Errington said. “Never seeing them and not knowing what we’re coming up against is tough. It is what it is and it was a great experience.”

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