READFIELD — Defending Class C champion Maranacook is fast, physical, aggressive and taking nothing for granted.

The unbeaten Black Bears went full throttle in the second half, scoring three goals to pull away from fourth-seeded Waynflete and return to the Western C final with a 4-1 win Friday night at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams.

No. 1 Maranacook (16-0) will host No. 3 Hall-Dale for the regional title at 6 p.m., the back end of a doubleheader in which the girls’ team will also host its regional championship game against Sacopee Valley.

“Our school is pumped up right now, really excited,” Solmitz said. “The girls are really excited to be there and we just wanted to be there again. That’s what our goal was.”

Tied 1-1 at intermission, the Black Bears took control as the teams went end-to-end early in the second half.

Mark Buzzell passed to DuBois cutting across the box. Waynflete goalie Milo Belleau slipped and fell just before DuBois got a touch on the ball, leaving the senior with an open net to his left. DuBois filled it up to put the Black Bears in front for good 1:16 into the second half.

The Flyers immediately went on the attack in response, but Freeman made a couple of big stops to preserve the lead. The best came when Willy Burdick sent a long pass 30 yards to the box, where Christian Brooks was waiting with a header. Freeman anticipated perfectly and knocked the potential game-tying goal down.

“He was taller than the man he was on, so I knew he was going to win it if it came to him,” Freeman said. “When it came, I was just right there.”

“For a kid that doesn’t get tested much, he showed up,” Maranacook coach Don Beckwith said of Freeman. “I think people think that he’s not very good. They’re very stupid if they think that.”

Waynflete’s next header did go in, but it went into the wrong net. Solmitz was credited with the insurance goal at 29:09.

“We were down in the corner messing around with the ball. I ended up serving it and it just skipped off the kid’s head right into the upper-right corner,” Solmitz said. “It looked perfect. A goal’s a goal.”

Even with the two-goal lead, Maranacook didn’t feel safe against the explosive Flyers, so it kept the pressure on. The Black Bears outshot Waynflete, 21-9.

“They’re a great offensive team. They’ve got a lot of talent. They’re more talented than we are offensively,” Beckwith said. “We played a really good defensive game I thought. We showed up.”

DuBois added his second goal with 14:31 left, a laser beam from about 20 yards to the far post.

Maranacook cashed in on a counter to take the game’s first lead. Solmitz headed in the rebound of a Kent Mohlar shot 5:37 in.

“Coach was telling us all practice (Thursday) to stay in the paint, float in the paint. That’s what my main goal was,” Solmitz said. “I was there at the right time.”

Waynflete (12-2-2) struggled to maintain any pressure out of the gate but still managed to tie the game on its first good opportunity. Ahmed Mohamed’s riser from the right of the box eluded a leaping Freeman and landed in the far corner for the equalizer with 26:12 left in the first half.

“I loved how we responded in the first half and tied it after coming out a little slow,” Waynflete coach Brandon Salway said. “We had chances after their second goal to get right back in it. I loved how we responded there. Then we were just a little bit unlucky. They’re very good. We don’t see their style a lot and they’re very good at it.”

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33