By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

ABOVE THE REST — Clearly, Fryeburg Academy senior Stefan Sjekloca was shoulders above the rest of the competition Saturday as he scored two goals to lead the Raiders past Oak Hill 9-1. Sixth-seeded Fryeburg advanced to the Class B quarterfinals Wednesday against third-seed Yarmouth. (Rivet Photo)

FRYEBURG — Beware of the Raiders, they are starting to seriously jell as a major offensive threat.

Winners of five straight heading into Saturday’s Class B West preliminary game, the sixth-ranked Raiders put on a scoring clinic at the expense of 12^th-seed Oak Hill as Stefan Sjekloca, Paul Kurnick and Austin Ward each scored two goals in a 9-1 romp at the Academy.

The victory propelled Fryeburg (10-5) into the quarterfinals yesterday against third-seed Yarmouth. The Clippers beat the Raiders 1-0 in a game Fryeburg had many good scoring chances back in mid-September, but once suspects FA will carry a little chip on their shoulder when they return to Yarmouth for the rematch. The winner plays Saturday in the Class B West semi-finals.

Although Oak Hill arrived with a 3-11 record, the Oakies (also known as Raiders) played FA tough for most of the first half. Fryeburg broke the ice with about nine minutes gone when Sonam Sherpa (who would leave the contest in the second half after suffering a shoulder injury following a collision with an Oak Hill player while chasing a ball down the sideline) dribbled past a couple defenders along the right side and crossed a pass to Stefan Sjekloca, who chipped the ball past Oak Hill junior goalie Sam Morin.

Milos Mijokov dazzled the OH defenders with his fancy footwork, which enabled him to elude three defenders and then dish off a perfectly placed pass which Sjekloca one-timed a drive past Morin, who had ventured out of his goal crease at 22:19.

goalie Sam Morin during the second half of Saturday’s Class B West preliminary boys’ soccer playoff game. The Raiders broke open a 2-0 halftime lead into a 9-1 rout. The Raiders advanced to the quarterfinals against Yarmouth. (Rivet Photo)

Sjekloca made a superb bid for his third goal just a minute later, heading a ball that just missed the left post, prompting Oak Hill coaches to yell out, “Do you think that one of you guys might want to start to cover #9 (Sjekloca)!”

Despite being seriously out played over the first 40 minutes, Oak Hill trailed by just a deuce.

The second 40, however, would become a shoot-fest.

A scorer, Sjekloca also showed his playmaking skills with a nifty crossing pass to Paul Kurnick, who tipped a drive past Morin just two minutes into the second half for a 3-0 Fryeburg lead.

Earlier in the game, Mijokov uncorked a blistering drive that seemed to sting Morin’s gloved hands. At the 26:53 mark, Mijokov found the twines with a drive to Morin’s left. Assisting were Kurnick and Sjeckloca.

Fryeburg made it 5-0 at 20:49 as Austin Ward headed a high drive off a corner kick, which deflected off an Oak Hill defender near the right post for a goal. As he went into a slide, Kurnick made it 6-0 by just pushing a shot off past Morin at 19:56.

Oak Hill spoiled Raider goalie Paul Dostie’s bid for the shutout as junior Gardner Logan ripped a shot that found the left corner at 16:41.

Ward tallied his second goal at 15:11 for a 7-1 Raider lead. Coach Bob Hodgman-Burns shuffled in his reserves, who were hungry to get involved in the scoring action. Fryeburg continued to dominate territorial play as Tyler Saunders scored off a well-timed crossing pass from the right side by Alec Perry with 14:47 left in the game.

Moments after Blaine Andreoli came on to relieve Dostie in the FA net, the freshman goalie had just enough reach to tip a solid drive wide of the cage.

At the other end, Raider senior Lionel Rutabayin closed out the scoring with a booming drive with 46.5 seconds left, off a pass from Gabe Perry.

Over a six game stretch, the Raiders out scored their opponents 36-4. They hoped to keep that offensive engine running in high gear yesterday at Yarmouth.