The Maine Moose 16U hockey team finished off an unbeaten run in the USA Hockey Tier II national tournament with a 7-4 victory over the Armstrong (Pennsylvania) Arrows in the championship game at Ice Vault Arena in Wayne, New Jersey, on Monday.
“The past few years, we’ve made it to the semis,” Moose forward Jeromey Rancourt said. “We really settled down and took care of business this year.”
The Moose, based out of Hallowell, have many local players on the roster, including those from Lewiston and Edward Little High Schools and St. Dominic Academy.
“Obviously there was chemistry there with the Lewiston guys,” said Rancourt, who helped lead the Blue Devils to a Class A state title this past winter. “But everyone on the team knew everyone else. We all had the same goal, all wanted to get to the same place.”
In the tournament final, the Moose jumped out to a 7-1 lead, then hung on late in the third period. Lisbon’s Tyler Halls, Rancourt and Lewiston teammate Joe Bisson all scored in the first half of the third to give the Moose a six-goal lead. Nick Bisson had three assists in the win. while Lewiston’s Cody Doyon added two. Other locals to notch assists were Joe Bisson, Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth’s Cam Wilson, St. Dom’s Gavin Bates and Lewiston’s Cole Ouellette.
Tanner McClure scored the lone goal of the first period, then Marc Thibodeau made it 2-0 less than a minute into the second before the Arrows finally got onto the scoreboard. Josh Malone and McClure added second-period goals to make it 4-1 after two.
South Portland’s Joe Grant and Jay native Esa Maki combined to stop 27 of 31 shots in net, with Maki making 18 of the saves.
Also representing Lewiston/Auburn teams in the tourney were Sam Story, Jaiden Wilson, Dustin Larochelle of Lewiston and EL’s Ryan Raby.
The Moose made it to the title game after winning a pair of games Sunday, beating the Charlotte Jr. Checkers 4-2 in the quarterfinals and the Alaska Oilers 2-1 in the semifinals.
“The semis were definitely intense,” Rancourt said. “It was a totally different game (Monday).”
The team went 3-0 in pool play and outscored the opposition 16-3.
McClure led the Moose with six goals in the tournament, while Joe Bisson and Rancourt each tallied five. Doyon led the team with six assists.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
