SCARBOROUGH — Opportunities were few for the Scarborough boys’ soccer team.
But the top-ranked Red Storm certainly made the most of them.
Scarborough put just two shots on frame in the first 70 minutes of their Class A South semifinal against No. 4 Gorham on Saturday at Kippy Mitchell Sports Complex. Both found the mark and the Red Storm went on to a 2-0 victory to reach the regional final for the first time in seven years.
Will Fallona scored two minutes into the game and Kilson Joao added an insurance goal five minutes into the second half.
Scarborough improves to 15-1 and will face No. 6 Windham in the Class A South final at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Sanford High School.
“We talked about getting the right opportunities,” said Red Storm Coach Mark Diaz. “The kids did exactly what we talked about, so credit to them. This group deserves to be in the (regional final).”
Scarborough went on top for good two minutes in, when Joao raced down the left side and crossed the ball in front where Fallona redirected it past Rams goalkeeper Ethan Homa (three saves).
That goal awakened Gorham (12-3-1), which dominated the rest of the first half, but had nothing to show for it.
The Rams nearly tied the score in the sixth minute, but Cole Bishop’s shot hit the near post. Red Storm keeper Nick Ouellette (eight saves) then stopped shots from Bishop and Riley Dever.
“We got a little lucky,” said senior captain and back Parker Killiard. “They were really pressing us for a good 20, 25 minutes. They outworked us, I’ll admit that, but we pushed back.”
Scarborough tightened up the defense in the second half and got some breathing room with 35:43 to play. Dillon McLeod, on a free kick, played the ball to the far post, where Ashton Blanchette tapped it to Joao, who finished to make it 2-0.
“We needed a second goal,” Joao said. “I just had to tap it in. It was an easy goal.”
Gorham had a chance to get back in the game late when Bishop lined up a free kick from just outside the box. However, he sent it high and the Red Storm avenged last year’s playoff ouster on penalty kicks.
“It feels amazing to beat (Gorham),” said Killiard. “We’ve worked really hard (this) year. We’ve had no easy games in the playoffs.”
The Rams finished with an 8-5 edge in shots and an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
“We definitely had good spells today, but it came down who put the ball in the back of the net and who kept it out and unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of that today,” said Gorham Coach Nick Viola.
“I’m not sure this group got the recognition they deserved this year, but we proved we were a top four team and made it to the semis and I’m really proud of (the guys’) accomplishments.”
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