LEWISTON — Not since winning back-to-back state titles in 2005 and 2006 has Cheverus appeared in the Western A regional final.
The second-seeded Stags are finally back, taking care of No. 3 seed Noble/Wells in the process. Keegan Thomas scored Cherverus’ first two goals and finished with a hat trick as the Stags defeated the Knights, 6-1, in the regional semifinals on Friday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
“It’s something you keep working toward each year,” Cheverus coach Dan Lucas said. “We’ve got eight or nine seniors on this team. There’s nothing left to save it for. Everybody’s playing with a purpose now and the team’s pretty tight. I think we can be a dangerous hockey team.”
The Stags (13-5-2) will play Scarborough in the regional final. In the process, Cheverus avenged last year’s quarterfinal loss to the Knights.
“We were fired up all season to play Noble,” Thomas said. “They knocked us out last year in a good game. We didn’ t play well and they knocked us out. We were looking forward to this game for a long time. We came out with the right mentality, the right attitude. From the time we walked in, we came to play.”
Thomas made up for taking the game’s first penalty, netting his first goal at 9:36 of the opening period. The senior captain fired a shot to the right of Noble/Wells goaltender Wyatt Ricker that redirected off the Knights’ Nathan DeWolf and past the netminder for the 1-0 lead.
Thomas was just getting started as he lit the lamp for a second time less than three minutes later. After collected a pass from Jesse Cyr-Brophy, Thomas skated down the right wing and lifted a shot over Ricker’s glove-side shoulder from the faceoff circle.
“He’s a leader anyway,” Lucas said. “The kids respect him. When you can add some goals to having that respect in the dressing room, it fuels the fire.”
It wasn’t all Thomas. Alex Libby got on the score sheet at 5:20 of the second period with a wrap-around backhander from the red line. With little room to work with, Libby banked a shot in off the side of Ricker’s leg pad.
Any chance of a Knights comeback was thwarted just 14 seconds into the third period when Luke Trickey scored the Stags’ fourth goal of the game.
Noble/Wells (16-4) ended Cheverus’ shutout bid at 3:14 of the third when Ryan Marsh beat Cheverus goaltender Kyle Severance with a shot from the slot while falling to the ice. The Knights became the first losing team in the Class A regional semifinals to score a goal.
The celebration didn’t last long. The Stags responded with two goals in 24 seconds to push their advantage to 6-1. Matt O’Leary tallied the Stags’ first power-play goal with a shot from the point that bounced up into the top corner of the net off Ricker’s stick. Thomas completed his first career hat trick moments later.
“To be honest I was just in the right place at the right time,” Thomas said. “My linemates — Jean-Claude (Lemieux) and Libby — did a great job of grinding in the corners. They did a great job working with me.”
The Stags held a 38-27 edge in shots.
Ricker finished with 32 saves. Severance made 26 stops.
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