RICHMOND — The Richmond boys soccer team cruised through most of the regular season, winning six of its 14 games by five or more goals.
So when the Bobcats, the defending Western D champs, opened the playoffs, it did so with lofty expectations.
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“We’re hoping to win states,” said junior Logan Anair. “That’s what we want.”
Top-seeded Richmond took a step in that direction Tuesday afternoon, when it stuffed No. 8 Greenville 3-1 in a Western D quarterfinal game before a modest crowd.
The Bobcats will play either No. 4 Greater Portland Christian or No. 5 Chop Point in a regional semifinal game Friday at a time to be announced. The Lakers finished 7-9-0.
Anair, Cody Tribbet and Nate Vintinner scored for the Bobcats (15-0-0), who dominated this contest from start to finish.
Trevor Richards scored the lone goal for the Lakers on a penalty kick later in the second half with the game’s outcome no longer in doubt.
“I like the way we played,” said Richmond first-year coach Peter Gardner. “It’s always good to get the first one out of the way. I know the expectations they have.”
The Bobcats played like a No. 1 seed Tuesday, controlling the play against a defensive-minded Greenville squad that played eight players back.
The strategy worked to a point, although it was just a matter of time before the always-attacking Bobcats broke through.
Vintinner opened the scoring with 24 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first half when he gained possession of the ball from out front and ripped a shot past Greenville keeper Evan Bjork.
“A defender got to the ball but he didn’t kick it very far,” Vintinner said. “I got it about 10 yards out and just put it in.”
It stayed 1-0 until Tribbet, a sophomore, emerged from a swarm of bodies in front of the Greenville net almost seven minutes into the second half.
“The ball just popped out and I saw an opening on the left side I just went for it,” Tribbet said. “It felt good.”
The two-goal cushion was more than enough for Richmond, which attacked wide and looked for crosses through a bunched-in Greenville defense.
“It’s the playoffs,” said Gardner, 68, who won 463 games and six Class A state championships at Brunswick. “This is what happens in the playoffs. Teams get tough defensively.”
Anair capped the scoring when he booted a laser through a crowd from about 30 yards that sailed past Bjork with 20:21 left in regulation.
“I had some space and got a good shot on net,” Anair said.
Greenville spoiled the shutout when Richards converted a penalty kick about three minutes later.
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