Senior Andrew Desmarais, right, stepped up when his team needed him in the Hollis Brookline 4-0 tourney win over Plymouth Tuesday in Hollis. (Photo by Jack Belanger)

HOLLIS̶̶̶̶̶̶̶ Hollis-Brookline boys soccer head coach Rick Carvalho would rather not remember the last time his team played against Plymouth Regional High School.

Back in September, the teams in the midst of a 1-1 tie when the Cavaliers started to pick up yellow cards. As the chaotic game progressed, HB got to the point where it could not field a team and had to forfeit the game.

The loss dropped the team 2-3-2. At that point, hosting a playoff game was not even thought.

“We didn’t get a good result up there. We have had a lot of changes. We’ve had some moments where things have been tougher,” Carvalho said.

That game represented a turning point for the Cavs, who finished 6-2-1 down the stretch and earned themselves a home playoff game in a rematch against the Bobcats. This time, talent won out as the No. 6 seed Hollis-Brookline won 4-0 over No. 12 seed Plymouth Tuesday afternoon in the Division II prelims. It was HB’s largest margin victory of the year.

“We took advantage of our opportunities early and often. We didn’t let them stay in the game. The mentality of the team the last few weeks have been great,” Carvalho said. “We keep getting stronger in our team camaraderie.”

Nathan Fossness scored the first goal for the Cavs. After receiving the pass at the top of the box, he made a quick turn on his defender and zipped the ball to the far post past the Plymouth goalie.

Later in the half, Andrew Desmarais headed the ball off a free kick to James Arthur who connected on the open net to put the Cavs up 2-0 at halftime.

“We recognized the moments when we could play good balls in dangerous area and capitalized during those moments,” Carvalho said.

In the second half, Desmarais added to the lead with two goals of his own. With about 18 minutes left in the game, he received a leading pass from midfield that allowed him to break away from his defender.

As the Bobcats’ goalie slid to knock the ball away, Desmarais crossed to his right and snuck the ball in.

“Our midfield and defense were out of order early in the season,” Desmarais said. “We worked on that, and today we moved the ball up quickly. We caught their defense up high and we ran right past them.”

In stoppage time with Plymouth in desperation mode, the forward once again broke free and, with no one between him and goalie, got a clean shot to put a stamp on the game and send Hollis-Brookline to the quarterfinals.

“He’s got a load of pace and good composure in front of goals,” Carvalho said. “He took advantage of those opportunities and he helped put the game away when we needed it most.”

With four straight wins dating to the regular season, the Cavaliers are rolling at 9-5-3. They head to No. 3 seed Pembroke Academy on Friday at 3 p.m. The teams played to a 0-0 tie back in the September, though Carvalho might as well toss away that game as well with how his team has changed.

“We grinded through those tough moments. I give credit to the guys who are on the team who stuck it out and were tough. We turned things around late in the season.”