AUBURN — St. Dom’s put up fight but just came up short against Bangor.
The Rams defeated the Saints 3-2 in the boys hockey regular-season finale for both teams at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“We battled hard, and it shows the character of our kids,” St. Dom’s coach Dan D’Autueil said. “We keep battling until the end of the game.”
Bangor coach Quinn Paradis said the Saints (1-17) gave the Rams a good test before the playoffs.
“St. Dom’s played well tonight, their first line is good,” Paradis said. “Anybody is going to make a run in (Class A) in the playoffs, one through 14 (seed). You have to play your best or you can be done the next day.”
The Rams (14-3) will be the second seed in the Class A playoffs.
Bangor took a 1-0 lead in the middle of the first period when Josh Ryan’s shot beat St. Dom’s goalie Jayden Lynn (24 saves).
Timothee Ouellette had the Saints’ two best chances in the first period, but Bangor goalie Jake Hirsch (15 saves) stopped Ouellette both times on breakaways.
“We had our chances,” D’Autueil said. “It’s a good sign we are getting better, and I told them all year, ‘It’s little building blocks, we just need to get better and better.'”
Cooper Ireland put Bangor up 2-0 just past the five-minute mark of the second period when his shot trickled past Lynn.
The third period started with the Saints getting on the scoreboard. Ouellette’s shot hit the end boards and bounced right to Colin Casserly by the crease. Casserly fired the puck into the net 28 seconds into the period.
“(The players) are starting to click together,” D’Autueil said “They are starting to think out-of-the-box, and that was an out-of-the-box play that worked.”
Ty Walker stuffed home a power-play goal midway through the third period to give Bangor a 3-1 lead.
The Saints made a late push in the third period. Thomas Casserly’s point shot found the top shelf for a power-play goal with 2:32 remaining. Tanner Berry-Hart and Ouellette had the assists.
St. Dom’s pulled Lynn in the final two minutes but couldn’t score the equalizer.
“It was a good test for us to finish the last minute-20, (playing) 6-on-5,” Quinn said. “It may make us better for the playoffs.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
