LEWISTON — There will be a new state champion in Class A boys’ hockey.
Two-time defending state champion and top seed Falmouth saw its bid for a three-peat end prematurely as No. 4 seed Scarborough scored five of the final seven goals in a 5-4 victory over the Yachtsmen in the Western A semifinals on Saturday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
After having their season end at the hands of Falmouth the past three years, the Red Storm got the payback they were looking for.
“We used the past three years as motivation,” Scarborough’s Sean McGovern said. “We’ve lost to these guys, who’ve been a great team, for the past three years and we weren’t going to lose to these guys a fourth year in a row. There was no way in this locker room.”
It’s the first time in four years that Falmouth (14-6) didn’t advance to the regional final. As a result, the Red Storm will play Cheverus in the regional final.
Trailing 3-2 and having Braden Kane assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for butt-ending, the Red Storm (12-5-3) responded by scoring the next three goals in a span of four minutes to stun the Yachtsmen.
“When we got that five-minute major, I thought it was over,” Scarborough coach Norm Gagne said. “But these kids battled. I told them before the game, I said, ‘You’re going to face adversity in this game. There’s no question. It’s going to be how you react and being able to stay within the moment’ and they did. That was big for us.”
McGovern tied the game with 7:09 remaining and Cameron Nigro put the Red Storm in front with 3:31 left to the delight of the Scarborough faithful, dressed in all black. Nigro redirected a shot from the point past Falmouth goaltender Ryan Bonnvie.
Nigro lit the lamp again with 2:09 to play when Cameron Smith found him with a cross-crease pass to give Scarborough a 5-3 lead.
“Going into the third period we were more motivated than any other period,” Nigro said. “We knew this was go ahead or go home. We just put it away. Great third period overall.”
The Yachtsmen pulled Bonnvie and scored the with extra attacker as Brandon Peters beat Scarborough goalie Ben Bragg with a wrist shot from the slot. But they couldn’t net the equalizer and their reign came to an end after two years on top.
It looked good for Falmouth early as it stormed out to 1-0 lead 2:43 into the game. Chris Camelio buried a rebound to the left of Bragg, the initial shot coming from Isac Nordstrom.
Nordstrom was in on the Yachtsmen’s second goal of the game as well, this one coming on the power play. A minute into a cross-checking penalty assessed to Scarborough’s Sam Nygren, Nordstrom found Jake Grade, who beat Bragg to give the Yachtsmen a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes in.
The Red Storm clawed back, cutting Falmouth’s lead in half before the first intermission. Sean McGovern capitalized on a power play opportunity, knocking in a loose puck in front of the net past Falmouth Bonnvie.
With a little help from video replay, Scarborough drew even with the Yachtsmen at 7:08 of the second period. Scarborough’s Matt Caron got behind the Falmouth defense and was 1-on-1 with Bonnvie. Caron shot hit off the inside of the crossbar, but wasn’t ruled a goal despite the red light coming on. After a two-minute review, the officials ruled Caron’s shot a goal. It was the first goal to be awarded in the state tournament under video replay this season.
“We’ve never had a video replay,” Gagne said. “Everybody on my side said it was a goal and the people up in the back said it was a goal. This building’s been good to me.”
Bragg finished with 28 saves while Bonnvie made 18 stops.
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