READFIELD — After winning the last two Class C boys soccer state titles, the Maranacook Black Bears are on a mission this year to show they can win a state championship in Class B.

They started to make a convincing case Wednesday night.

Sam Wilkinson scored two goals and the Maranacook defense limited No. 8 Fryeburg to two shots on goal in a 3-0 Class B South quarterfinal win at rainy Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams.

The top-seeded Black Bears (15-0-0) have not lost a game since 2012, when they fell to Falmouth in the semifinals of what was then Class B West. They are 49-0-2 since then.

“We just wanted to come in and show what we had, just come in and out-work people. That’s all we do,” Maranacook senior defender Chris Beckwith said. “I like beating people in Western B because they think we’re just a Class C team winning state championships. We’re not. We’re the real deal.”

Wilkinson, a junior striker and transfer from Erskine Academy, scored a goal in each half.

“We work a lot harder than anyone else. We’re more of a team,” he said.

Junior midfielder Hayden Elwell scored the other goal in the first half. Justin Freeman and Nate Clark split time in goal for the shutout.

The Black Bears focused their trademark suffocating defense on Fryeburg senior forwards Jordan Kruguer and Pablo Portuondo Laca. Beckwith marked the latter. A combination of players led by senior midfielder Kent Mohlar marked the former.

“We wanted to play pretty good defense and single out (Kruguer and Portuondo Laca). I thought they were the key players,” Maranacook coach Don Beckwith said. “We just kept an eye on them and did our job. (Kruguer) usually follows the ball so he went where Mohlar would. I bet on Mohlar.”

“It’s one-and-done if you don’t get it done,” he added. “That’s what we talked about, you have to show up for every minute and do your job and be composed. That’s how we got our second goal, really. They lost their composure and we just passed across and Elwell put it in the net.”

The Black Bears will host No. 5 Gray-New Gloucester (10-5-1) in the semifinals on Saturday. Game time is to be announced.

“They’ve got a couple of kids that can play. And they’ve got kids that work, so they’re a lot like us in a lot of ways,” Don Beckwith said. “They have pretty decent speed. They can beat us.”

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

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