BUCKFIELD — The best season in Temple Academy history came to an end Tuesday.
No. 2 Buckfield raced out to an early lead and then held the third-seeded Bereans at bay in the second half, en route a 3-2 win over Temple in the Class D South boys soccer semifinals.
The Bucks (15-1-0) will play No. 1 Richmond in a regional final Thursday. For Temple, the loss was the first of the season after having never advanced beyond the regional quarterfinals prior to this year.
Buckfield scored three times in the first eight minutes on Tuesday before Temple (15-1-0) gave chase late in the first half.
Micah Riportella and Will Paradis both scored with less than seven minutes remaining until halftime to pull the Bereans within a goal.
“You get down 3-0, and for them to have the fight in them like that, it could have just fallen apart,” Temple coach Phil Hubbard said. “I haven’t had a team before fight that hard, being down so much, and almost win this thing. It was incredible.”
Sawyer Deroche provided Temple’s best chance to force overtime, hitting the crossbar late, after Buckfield packed the box with five backs in the second half.
“We had a lot of time to pick away,” Hubbard said. “They bunkered in.”
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