Bangor High School goalie Jacob Henry watches the puck bounce off him in front of teammate Jacob Munroe, right, and St. Dom’s Hunter Hughes during their game in Auburn on Wednesday. Bangor won, 3-0. (Justin Pelletier)
AUBURN — St. Dom’s was missing two key players. Bangor had two Jacobs in the lineup, and both made some key plays.
Two plus two equaled a 3-0 win for Bangor in a Class A North boys’ hockey clash at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Wednesday.
The Saints (3-3-1) were without freshman forward Dominic Chasse (hurt in the previous game against Lewiston) and sophomore forward Will Fletcher (serving a suspension for getting ejected from a previous game), which head coach Bob Parker said “made a big deal.”
The shorthanded Saints went shorthanded on the ice late in the first period. They nearly killed off the penalty, but the Rams (5-1) were able to capitalize with 14 seconds left on the man-advantage. Jacob Munroe’s rip from the point found its way past Saints goalie Gaston Fuksa.
“It’s one of those things we preach — shoot the puck on net and good things will happen,” Bangor coach Quinn Paradis said. “We don’t know how it got in there, but it got in the net and it was a good goal.”
The Rams went on their own penalty kill five minutes into the second, and junior goalie Jacob Henry made saves and got some help from the crossbar on a Jacques Ouellette shot to survive the man-down.
Despite the missed opportunity the second period was the best offensively for the Saints, who sent eight shots at Henry in the frame.
“We changed lines, and we tried to make one strong line and generate some offense that way. And just try to hold down the fort with other two lines,” Parker said. “It seemed to work. We got some better chemistry out of the deal, but we fell short from scoring.”
Bangor had a hand in the Saints not scoring.
“Defensively we took away the middle of the ice, we let our goalie see the first shot and make the save, and we got the rebounds, which is key,” Paradis said. “The rebounds are there and we were able to get on them, and we knew that was a big part of the game.”
“Bangor always — always — plays a good defensive game in front of their goalie,” Parker said.
The Rams put the game out of reach in the third. Another Munroe shot from the point was re-directed by David Brown and into the back of the net 1:21 into the frame. Reid Higgs rounded out the scoring with an unassisted shorthanded goal with four minutes to play.
Both Fuksa and Henry finished with 19 saves.
“Jacob was huge in net for us today,” Paradis said. “To come out and get a shutout tonight, down here on the road, is tough. I’m proud of the guy, the way he played today, and he’s definitely the MVP of our team today.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Bangor High School’s David Brown, right, keeps the puck from St. Dom’s Mack Pelletier during their game in Auburn on Wednesday. Bangor won, 3-0. (Justin Pelletier)St. Dominic Academy goalie Gaston Fuksa follows the action during a game against Bangor in Auburn on Wednesday. Bangor won, 3-0. (Justin Pelletier)St. Dom’s captain Mack Pelletier, right, slips past Bangor’s Zach Burpee (10) on a rush during their game in Auburn on Wednesday. Bangor won, 3-0. (Justin Pelletier)
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