Otago Boys was beaten 2-0 by Kings College in the quarterfinals at the McMillan Centre yesterday.
The Dunedin school will play Wairarapa College at 2.45pm today, and will progress to the fifth-sixth play-off if it wins and the seventh-eighth game if it loses.
Otago Boys cannot match last year's remarkable effort of finishing second in its first year back in the Rankin Cup, the elite national schoolboy tournament, but it has at least guaranteed it will stay in the tournament next year.
Today's semifinals will feature Auckland Grammar and Hamilton Boys (1.30pm) and Westlake Boys and Kings College (3pm).
In yesterday's other quarterfinals, Grammar beat Palmerston North Boys 2-0, Hamilton Boys beat Christs College 2-0, and defending champion Westlake Boys beat Wairarapa College 3-0.
Otago Boys had its chances against Kings College but could not turn opportunities into goals.
Kings College led 1-0 at half-time, scoring a goal from a poor clearance, and both teams missed penalty corners.
Otago Boys had two goals disallowed and hit the upright in the second half, and Kings scored its second goal from a penalty stroke.
Goalkeeper Nick Dunn was kept busy saving several penalty corners, while Hamish McGrannachan led the Otago Boys defensive line.
Both Kane Russell and Nicholas Dunbar worked hard further forward.
