St. Dominic Academy rang in the new millennium the best way a hockey program can: winning its state-best 24th title.
The Saints haven’t popped that celebratory champagne bottle since.
Fifteen seasons later and St. Dom’s (17-2-1) is still seeking that elusive 25th state title. The Saints have appeared in four championship games since 2000, but have finished runner-up all four times, the most recent coming last season against Falmouth.
“We made it as far as we can this year,” St. Dom’s senior captain Brad Berube said. “To get that state title would be awesome. Finishing out our senior year with a 25th state championship for St. Dom’s, go down in history would be an awesome moment.”
The East’s top seed will get a fifth crack at No. 25 tonight at 6 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. The Saints’ road to the title game saw them blank Edward Little in the regional semifinal before knocking off crosstown rival Lewiston in the final.
Standing in their way is Scarborough, the West’s No. 4 seed. The Red Storm (13-5-3) began their postseason run with an overtime victory over Biddeford before shocking two-time defending state champion Falmouth in the regional semis. They clinched their first trip to the title game by ousting Cheverus in the regional final.
It’s felt like ages ago when St. Dom’s and Scarborough met in the first week of the season on Dec. 10. The Saints won that contest, 2-1. After a scoreless first period, Adam Poulin scored short-handed to give St. Dom’s a 1-0 lead after two before Noah Toussaint made it 2-0 with 10:40 left in the third. Braeden Kane scored in the final minutes for Scarborough.
St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette has observed Scarborough in its past two playoff games and noticed a sizable difference between the Red Storm team his group played against in December and the Red Storm team his group will play tonight.
“Well they look bigger,” Ouellette said. “They looked a lot bigger than the first game. They’re playing a certain system right now. A little more defensive-type system to slow teams down, it seems like. Obviously good in goal and they have guys that can finish when they need to and our very opportunistic. It’s going to be a 45-minute game.”
It’s hard for either coach to take much away from the early-season meeting as both teams played without key players. The Saints were without Berube as well as Dillon Pratt. Berube leads the team in scoring with 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists) and Pratt, who’s been injured throughout the season, has 14 points (8 g, 6 a), including two goals against Lewiston in the regional final.
The Red Storm were without Matt Caron, who played sparingly until the final game of the regular season. Caron has three goals and three assists in his last two playoff games.
“He’s not only a great player, he’s one of our leaders,” Scarborough coach Norm Gagne said. “He’s a force on the ice and he’s big in the locker room. When he came back, it’s just made a big, big difference in the confidence of the team and the camaraderie of the team and his leadership’s been big.”
Scarborough will also have Kane back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for a butt-ending penalty against Falmouth in the regional semifinals.
Having appeared in two of the last three state title games, the Saints have a clear advantage when it comes to experience with 20 upperclassmen on their roster having played in a championship game. Scarborough has seven seniors and five juniors, but up until Tuesday, the Red Storm had never won a regional title.
“We have 20 upperclassmen on the roster out of 24 guys,” St. Dom’s senior Caleb Labrie said. “We had a ton of guys who played major roles in our junior and sophomore seasons, so just to have that experience going into Saturday is going to be crucial.”
Labrie is one of three Saints with 10-plus goals and one of four with 20-plus points. He is second on the team in scoring with 26 points (15 g, 11 a), followed by fellow senior Austin Roy with 24 (13 g, 11 a).
“We’re looking to the whole group for different reasons,” Ouellette said. “Everything from the support system that everyone needs to the on-ice performance and that calming approach. You have highs and lows and you need to take the calming, middle-of-the-road approach. That’s what I think that group will bring.”
The Saints have the edge in offensive efficiency, averaging 5.95 goals per game. Scarborough averages 2.57 goals per game. But both have quality goaltending. After rotating goalies throughout the year, St. Dom’s has gone with Kyle Welsh during the postseason and he hasn’t disappointed. The sophomore goaltender has 58 stops in two playoff games while Scarborough netminder Ben Bragg has made 74 saves in three postseason contests.
Both teams are battle-tested. Nineteen players for St. Dom’s missed at least one game this season due to injury or sickness. Scarborough hasn’t rolled out the same lineup all season.
“Our young players, our sophomores have certainly grown and gained a lot of experience,” Gagne said. “They’ve all been thrown into the fray and have had to play big roles all through the season not only losing Matt Caron, but we lose other players along the way and we’ve had to patch it here and there and move players around from defense to forward and back and fourth and we really haven’t played with the same lineup in every game that we’ve played. With the adversity that we’ve faced through the year and still come out where we are today is truly amazing.”
Eighteen players will skate in their final high school hockey game tonight.
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