BRUNSWICK — Trailing 3-1 early in the second period, the Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse boys high school hockey team had a golden chance to get back into the game after visiting Greely was whistled for a five-minute major.
One game removed from battling talented Bangor to a 4-3 overtime defeat, Eagles coach A.J. Kavanaugh felt this was the time his Eagles were going to make their move.
Instead, the Rangers killed off the penalty, then scored two late goals in the middle frame on the way to a 7-2 win at Bowdoin College’s Sidney J. Watson Arena on Wednesday.
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse fell to 2-4 and hosts two-time defending State Class A champion Lewiston on Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
“We were missing a couple key components on the first power play unit with our structure and it showed,” Kavanaugh said.
His Eagles fired five shots on Greely (3-1) goaltender Karsten Bourgoine but failed to score during the long man advantage.
“That was a turning point in the game,” Kavanaugh said. “We score there, who knows how the game turns out?”
Just to be within two goals in the second period seemed like a bit of a miracle for the Eagles. Greely came out strong, firing 12 straight shots and claiming a 3-0 lead with four minutes left in the opening frame. Defenseman Cole Stetson started things for the visitors, slipping a rebound of a Christopher Williams shot past Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse goaltender Cade Charron 2:22 into the game.
Greely’s top line of Jackson Williams, Matt Kramlich and Andy Moore were a problem for the Eagle defense throughout, combining for five goals and five assists. Williams scored his first goal at 9:26 off a setup from Kramlich. Just 1:26 later, Matt Dubbert tallied the third goal, forcing Kavanaugh to call a timeout.
“We just said to ‘hit the reset button boys,’” Kavanaugh said. “We were giving Greely too much credit. We played a very fast team up in Bangor, and we expected speed tonight. We did get that quick goal right after the timeout to get us back in it.”
Nick Austin tipped a pass from Noah Austin past Bourgoine (16 saves) with 3:48 left in the opening frame to get the Eagles on the board.
Power-play answer
With Caleb Duff in the penalty box after a hit from behind major, the Eagles applied pressure, with shots coming from Noah Austin, Nick Austin and Sam Alexander. However, Greely did a solid job keeping the hosts on the outside.
“That was a good team effort,” Williams said. “We had that happen to us against Falmouth, so I think we were comfortable there.”
After the penalty ended, Charron made four point-blank saves to keep his team in it.
But, there was little the junior keeper was able to do on the next two shots from Williams. Twice he broke in on Charron, finding the top corner of the cage and giving Greely a 5-1 lead.
“Those two late goals gave us that edge. We know that we have the ability to succeed,” Williams said.
“Two big goals, putting them up in the top shelf, and we just we got caught there” said Kavanaugh, who praised Charron after his keeper’s 27-save effort. “Cade played well and kept us in it. But, those goals put us behind the eight-ball.”
Greely killed a second penalty and added a shorthanded goal, with Kramlich finishing off a pass from Moore, who scored his team’s final goal from Kramlich with three minutes left.
Noah Austin completed the scoring off an assist from Nick Austin with 1:30 remaining.
With the tough schedule ahead, Kavanaugh hopes to keep his Eagles focused heading into the contest with the Blue Devils on Saturday.
“With the effort they gave up in Bangor, to force overtime, it gave us some good momentum,” Kavanaugh said. “Unfortunately, tonight we came out a little bit flat. Greely just beat Falmouth. They are a good team. Against Lewiston, if we can play like we did against Bangor, we will be in it.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
