FARMINGDALE — The first header bounced off the crossbar. So did the second. Ditto the third.
But on the fourth attempt early in double overtime?
“I was hoping it was going in, really hoping it was going in,” Monmouth Academy sophomore forward Avery Pomerleau said. “The ball came my way and hit the crossbar three times, bounced around and luckily came in.”
Pomerleau’s finish — his second in as many playoff games — capped a wild sequence of events just under two minutes into double overtime and lifted No. 4 Monmouth past top-seeded Hall-Dale 2-1 in a Class C South boys soccer semifinal game on a blustery Friday afternoon.
It marked the second straight game Pomerleau scored in overtime. He also buried the game-winner in a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over No. 5 North Yarmouth Academy.
The Mustangs (13-3-0) will play either No. 6 Sacopee Valley (8-6-1) or No. 2 Waynflete (12-2-1) in the regional final Wednesday. The Hawks and Flyers play today.
Hall-Dale, which allowed its first goal in about a month, finished 13-1-2.
“It was a good rivalry game,” Hall-Dale coach Andy Haskell said. “Both teams were evenly matched. It was good playoff soccer. Hats off to Monmouth. They worked hard to get to this point. … Pomerleau, he’s one of those players who’s in the right place at the right time. The ball came into the box and he put it home. It was a bang-bang play.”
Indeed, it was.
The game-winner came after a long throw-in into the box touched off a scramble in front of Hall-Dale keeper Andy Peterson. Monmouth put a header off the crossbar three times before Pomerleau converted the fourth.
“It’s unbelievable right now,” Pomerleau said. “I can’t believe it. Coach (Joe Fletcher) always said that this year was our time.”
It sure felt that way as daylight dwindled Friday.
“We have a never-say-die attitude,” Fletcher said. “Against NYA, we could’ve easily folded that tent and lost that game, and Hall-Dale had chances to win this as well. We’re mentally tough. We talked about it all season long, to be mentally tough.”
Hall-Dale took a 1-0 lead when Tyler Dubois scored on a goalmouth rebound with 16:45 left in the first half. Alex Guiou took a free kick from outside the box and Dubois converted the rebound after Monmouth keeper Bradley Neal made the initial save.
“We actually decided to play into the wind in the first half, thinking if we could play them to a standstill then we would have the advantage, and they still scored. I thought we were in trouble. I told them we had plenty of time, (that) we had the wind at our back. I didn’t want us to play long ball. I wanted to play the way we practice, create chances,” Fletcher said.
Monmouth sophomore Dylan Goff tied it with 26:11 left in the second half when he floated a shot over Peterson to the far right corner off a Hunter Richardson direct kick.
“I happened to be in the right spot, right time,” Goff said. “I just hit it with my left. I was just trying to hit it. I thought it was going to go over at first but it just sank; it was amazing.”
The score stayed that way until Pomerleau scored an apparent game-winner with 10 minutes left in the first overtime. However, he was called offsides, which nullified the goal.
“I had to push through it,” Pomerleau acknowledged.
Added Fletcher, whose team dropped a 1-0 decision to Hall-Dale in the regular season: “We thought it was the game-winner. … We had to regroup, had to regain our composure quickly there.”
Both goalies — Neal and Peterson — were spectacular Friday, with each coming up with one big save after another to heighten the drama. Neal finished with 13 saves while Peterson had 14.
“Both teams had a lot of good chances,” Haskell said. “For them, they’ve been building up to this point for five years and they came in here and beat us. They’ll give someone a run in the (Class C South) Maine championship. Good game, but you hate to lose them.”
Bill Stewart — 621-5618
bstewart@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @billstewartMTM
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