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YARMOUTH — Ask Yarmouth High boys’ soccer co-captain Patrick Grant about the highlight of Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Cape Elizabeth, and he could talk about his goal, which turned out to be the winner, or his assist that added insurance.
But what really got Grant pumped was seeing fellow senior captain Walter Conrad enter the game as a substitute. Conrad was playing for the first time since he broke his ankle a week before the season.
“That was quite the energy boost,” Grant said of Conrad’s five minutes of playing time. “We’ve been waiting for that all season. We hope to get him in more each game.”
And there will be at least one more game after the Clippers’ Class B South quarterfinal win.
Second-seeded and defending state championship Yarmouth (13-1-1) will return to its field Saturday for a semifinal against No. 3 Greely. The Rangers (9-3-3) faced Yarmouth twice – a 2-0 loss on Sept. 8 and a 1-1 tie on Oct. 17.
“Love playing Greely,” Grant said of the neighborly rivalry. “It will be the last time playing them for us seniors.”
No. 7 Cape Elizabeth is done at 8-8, with three losses coming to Yarmouth. But the first two were four-goal differences, 4-0 and 5-1.
“I didn’t think we would score that much this time,” Yarmouth Coach Mike Hagerty said. “This was a little bit what we expected.”
What they expected was an improved Capers team playing with playoff intensity. Just two minutes in, Cape’s R.J. Sarka got off a shot that hit the post.
“That early one – if that gets in – then the whole game is different,” Cape Coach Ben Raymond said. “I thought we played really well at times. Had some good opportunities. Just a couple of mistakes here and there.”
Yarmouth took control of the midfield, with Luke Groothoff, Matthew Dostie and Max Coury hustling, and Grant seemingly everywhere.
“Patrick does a lot for us, on and off the field,” Hagerty said. “He’s a terrific leader and he plays three different positions.”
And he knows where to be, like when Nicholas Kamra came charging with the ball, on Grant’s right.
“I was watching the ball come across,” Grant said. “It wasn’t dropping down, but it wasn’t going over. I just stayed planted in the middle. When it bounced off the crossbar, I was in the right position.”
Kamra’s ball came off the crossbar to Grant, who scored 7:14 into the game.
Cape came close to tying it, but David Hare’s header lifted just over the crossbar at 30:50.
But then came the clincher when Grant crossed to Dostie in front. Dostie swung his right foot behind his left leg, and directed the ball, midair, into the goal, with four seconds left in the half – a huge goal, especially with few scoring chances in the second half for either team.
In between the goals, Conrad made his appearance – bringing cheers from his teammates.
“I don’t know if I’m as smooth as I normally am, but it felt great to be in,” said Conrad, who is hoping for three more games to play in. “Playoffs are always funny. Anything can happen. We just have to stay focused on our game. If we do that, we got a shot this year.”
Two Yarmouth players lost to injury in the final regular-season game, Jonathan Groothoff and John Lane, will miss the playoffs.
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