FRYEBURG -- It had been a long time since the Greely High boys' soccer team won a regional championship game.
"Eleven years to be exact," said Coach Mike Andreasen.
The drought is over.
Cade Potts scored early in the first half, and the top-seeded Rangers (16-0-1) made it hold up, beating old rival and four-time defending Class B state champion Yarmouth 1-0 in the South regional final Wednesday at Fryeburg Academy.
Yarmouth finished 13-2-2, with two losses and a season-opening tie against Greely, which last went to (and won) a state championship game in 2013.
"For this team, that was our 16th win in a row," Andreasen said. "We're the best team nobody knows. We kind of fall between the cracks. We don't get a lot of the coverage."
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That's partly because Yarmouth has dominated the Class B landscape. The Clippers won eight of the last nine state championships under Coach Mike Hagerty, who retired after last season. Greely had lost in the regional quarterfinals each of the past three years, winning just one prelim game in that time.
"It's been a long time coming," said Potts, a junior defender. "The last three, four years, we've been out first round, second round. So this year, it's been a big chance. We have a great team this year and everyone is stepping up and doing their job."
Greely will face North champion John Bapst (16-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Cameron Stadium in Bangor. John Bapst won its third straight regional title, beating Medomak Valley, 3-1.
"We're going to have to enjoy this one for 24 hours, and tomorrow it's gone. We'll regroup, and then we'll go back at it in practice," said junior goalie Landon Dominski.
Potts put Greely ahead in the 16th minute. He made a back-post run and was able to bend down so his head was at about mid-chest level, enabling him to solidly direct the ball inside the near post.
"That was my first varsity goal," Potts said. "They didn't mark any of us really on any of our corners, so when Sam Anania played the ball in, I was free and I just headed it home."
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Yarmouth had opportunities in the middle of the game but only attempted five shots total, compared to Greely's 10.
"Their keeper made a couple of nice saves on balls that got in and we couldn't find an empty spot in the goal," said Yarmouth's first-year coach, Justin Morrill. "Then (Greely) found a second gear and started to match that intensity and we couldn't rise up over that, what they were matching."
Dominski played with a heavily taped right hand that he broke Saturday in warm-ups before Greely's 3-2 semifinal win. In the first half, he twice had to make the decision to charge hard after a bouncing through ball and was able to knock the ball away from oncoming Yarmouth forward Marcelino Mulombo.
"I try to read the game and try to go out and play hands if I can," Dominski said. "Those were kind of foot saves. I was kind of late to react. You just try to make yourself as big as you can and get close to the ball."
With 26 minutes left in regulation, Dominski barely tipped a long, booming direct kick by Owen Advani over the crossbar.
When Dominski received a yellow card for kicking the ball purposely out of bounds in a dead-ball situation, backup goalie sophomore James Saxe came in cold and made a save on the ensuing direct kick from about 25 yards with 22 minutes to play.
As it turned out, that was Yarmouth's last real strong opportunity. The Rangers, a veteran group but not a deep squad, controlled play down the stretch to secure their berth in the state championship game.
"It was a team that was ready to compete and all year they've done a nice job of just focusing on the next game and not looking ahead," Andreasen said. "We haven't been looking at championships. Now we are."
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