ONEONTA -- For nearly 55 minutes, the Oneonta and Dryden boys soccer teams stood in the middle of the ring and exchanged jabs.

In the 56th minute, the Yellowjackets landed a damaging blow to the Purple Lions' proverbial solar plexus. About 17 minutes later, second-seeded Oneonta delivered the match-ending haymaker to advance to the Section 4 Class B finals with a 2-0 victory Wednesday over sixth-seeded Dryden.

Dryden (13-4) fell behind on a slight -- and about its only -- defensive miscue. A Purple Lions defender tried to clear the ball by heading out of the 18-yard box, but it went right to Oneonta's Eric Deemer.

Deemer gathered the ball, collected himself and floated a shot from the right corner of the penalty box into the high far corner of the net, giving the Yellowjackets a one-goal lead with 21 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second half.

Deemer was filling in at right wing for Matt Arcidiacono, who was out with the flu.

"That was really (Deemer's) first opportunity to do what he had to do and he beat the guy," Oneonta coach Alex Brannan said. "We were like 'Oh, is it going over?' And then it catches the top corner. I think everybody was shocked by it. Even their goalie was like 'I can't believe he just hit that.' "

But like any good boxer, Dryden came back swinging with its best offensive sequences of the game.

Justin Niziol sent two shots -- including a direct kick from about 20 yards out -- over the crossbar and Randy Seltzer sent another one high.

With 13 minutes left, Dan Holland took a cross from Sean Norstrand from in close and he flicked it on goal. As the ball hung precariously in midair near the goal line, an Oneonta defender headed it over the crossbar.

"We were on the doorstep. We had a couple chances to tie it up," Dryden coach Laszlo Engel said. "They really, really made the IAC proud. We didn't get the bounce today. We had a couple of really good chances. It just didn't go our way."

Just as it looked as though Dryden might tie it up, a ball squirted toward Purple Lions goalkeeper Matt Cushman, who tried punching the ball over the crossbar. Instead of going over, it hit the crossbar and fell to the foot of Oneonta's Aaron Foreman, who finished it off with 4:37 left in the game.

"It was difficult to get a lot of attack after that," Engel said.

The loss ends Dryden's season, which started with three early losses and ended with two wins against rival Lansing, including one that sent the Purple Lions to the semifinals.

"We were done losing after that third loss," said Niziol, a senior. "We really just came together and practiced harder every day and it showed. We did better and better every single game."

An evenly-played match that was contested near midfield -- both teams combined for just eight shots on goal -- stings because of what could have been, Dryden midfielder Sam Rugg said.

"We had the potential to go really far and we all knew it," Rugg said. "We all love each other and it's a great team. (This season) is going to be one for the history books."

Oneonta (15-2-1) plays Owego (16-2) in the Section 4 Class B championship at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta.