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CUMBERLAND — Lucas Hayner was surprised when the Yarmouth boys soccer team was awarded a penalty kick less than five minutes into its regular-season finale against Greely on Tuesday evening.

But the Clippers’ junior midfielder was ready for the moment.

Hayner took a breath and softly chipped the ball toward the center of the net, over the outstretched arm of Greely senior keeper Landon Dominski, who slid too far to his left.

The goal with 35:58 left in the first half gave Yarmouth a 1-0 lead, and the Clippers (12-1-1) held on to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Class B South playoffs. Yarmouth overtook Greely (12-2) for the top spot, beating the Rangers for the second time this season.

“Yeah, it was like a little ticky-tacky foul, and then someone got hit, and then they didn’t go down,” Hayner said about the push in the back call against Greely. “So, they called a penalty, and I was honestly surprised. But got the chance, and then you had to capitalize.”

Yarmouth coach Justin Morrill said during the regular season he allows the players on the field to decide who will take the penalty kick.

“I’m not crazy about the panenka, I’d rather he just drive it to the back of the net, but he kind of gave it a little chip, little nervy, but (it worked),” Morrill said with a laugh, referencing the nickname for a shot made famous by Czech player Antonín Panenka in the 1970s.

The Clippers also beat the Rangers 1-0 in September. This time, Greely was without its leading scorer, senior forward Connor Skillin, after he received his third yellow card of the season last week.

Initially worried about how his team would respond to Skillin’s absence, coach Mike Andreasen was encouraged by his team’s elevated level of play.

“This was a game that we wanted to win, but it wasn’t imperative,” Andreasen said. “I mean, the two-seed, that’s a nice draw as well. So if we play Yarmouth again, and it might happen, we can play them on a neutral field. That’s where the (regional) final would be. I just wanted to see a good performance out of us, and I thought I saw that. I thought the kids did a nice job and worked with some urgency.”

Greely’s best chance came on a counterattack in the 51st minute, but Hunter Caiazzo’s shot was deflected by Owen Advani.

Zacarias Binda nearly doubled the score for Yarmouth in the 56th minute, but his close-range shot hit the right post.

Dominski stopped six shots and prevented multiple shot attempts by coming out of the box. Julian Gebhardt, a senior, made two saves for the Clippers.