Leandro Naous of Saint Dominic Academy shoots on Bangor High School goalie Jacob Henry while being pushed by Anthony Caccese during the first period in Auburn on Saturday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
AUBURN — The Bangor boys’ hockey team wants to make a habit of winning in the Twin Cities.
The Rams are off to a good start, earning a win in the first of their three trips to Lewiston or Auburn this season by defeating St. Dominic Academy 3-0 at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Saturday.
“It’s great to get a trip down here (early in the year), we play a lot of games down here,” Bangor coach Quinn Paradis said. “It’s kind of our home away from home, as we call it. Hopefully the Lewiston-Auburn area treats us well this year.”
The Rams won’t be back in the Twin Cities for a regular-season contest until February when they face Edward Little and Lewiston in back-to-back contests on Feb. 6 and Feb. 9.
Bangor goaltender Jacob Henry made 22 saves to notch the shutout. His counterpart, Gaston Fuksa for St. Dom’s, stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced.
Saints coach Bobby Parker believes sloppy play all night by his team didn’t help its cause.
“We had our good (moments), but at the same time, we were struggling, starting on defense,” Parker said. “We were handling the puck too much and we weren’t moving the puck effectively, which caused us to have some turnovers. Bangor took advantage of them.”
The first period was back-and-forth as both teams tried to get their offenses going.
Bangor (2-0) who struck first in the final minute when an odd-man situation developed in the slot. Nick Boudreau had the initial shot; Fuksa made the first save, but the rebound was kicked out to David Brown, who settled the puck down and put it in the open net with 37 seconds remaining.
“He’s a really good goaltender,” Brown said of Fuksa. “All we have to do is crash the net, get bodies and put the puck into the net.”
Paradis thought Brown was one of the teams’ better forwards throughout the game.
“He was sharp tonight. He had a great practice (Friday), and he stuck to the game plan,” Paradis said. “He was probably the best forward on the ice for us.”
The Rams stretched lead to 2-0 early in the second period when Ben Brooks went down the right boards, drawing Saints defenders. He beat them down low where he found an open Josh Sherwood sitting all alone in front of the crease.
A penalty-fest broke out in the middle portion of the stanza. The first two power plays of the period went to the Saints. They couldn’t convert during the first two-minute stretch.
Henry made a stop during the second power play and a St. Dom’s player was still battling the for puck as the whistle blew. A second later, Bangor’s Zach Burpee came and hit him after the whistle. A penalty was called, but St. Dom’s Ryan Davis picked up a penalty on his own at the 6:52 mark.
The Saints (2-1) still had the man advantage, but the Rams were able to clear the puck out of the zone. After Fuksa made a save, St. Dom’s Lucas Pushard picked up an interference call at the 7:10 mark.
That sequence of events really took the Saints off their game.
“That was a momentum swing, by a means,” Paradis said. “Getting that second goal earlier in the period and catching them back on their heels … Our goalie made some big saves, they hit the post in the third. That could have gone either way for us if that had gone in the net.”
Parker admits some frustration, but not just because of the penalties in the second period.
“There was some team frustration tonight,” Parker said. “You probably can blame the Bangor coach because we weren’t getting the pucks in (deep in the offensive zone). It kept frustrating us and stuff. You got to have patience and you got to keep working hard, you got to keep working as a unit.”
For the the game, both teams were 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
After St. Dom’s had a solid start in the third period, Bangor picked up the crucial third goal when Nick Nick Boudreau finished off a feed from Drew Dorr 5:24 into the third period.
Lucas Pushard (22) of Saint Dominic Academy tangles with Zach Burpee of Bangor High School during the first quarter in Auburn on Saturday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Matthew Fletcher, left, of Saint Dominic Academy and Anthony Caccese of Bangor compete for the puck during the first quarter in Auburn on Saturday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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