York’s Andrew Bertolini tries to get a shot off as he is tripped up in front of the net Friday against Cape Elizabeth in the teams’ Class B quarterfinal at the Androscoggin bank Colisee in Lewiston. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald)
LEWISTON — Phil Tarling scored a pair of goals 10 seconds apart to break a third-period tie, sending second-seeded Cape Elizabeth to a 4-2 victory over No. 3 York in a Class B South boys’ hockey semifinal at Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Friday.
The Capers (15-2-2) had to rally from deficits twice, but did so hastily on both occasions.
Tarling then put the Capers on top for the first time — and for good — with 5:18 remaining in regulation. The goal was open and all he had to do was shoot.
“I get pretty excited because it’s a big game,” Tarling, a junior captain, said.
The Capers’ win also means there will be a new regional champion, with York unable to defend its Class B South crown.
The Wildcats (14-6) got off to a much better start than they did in both the regular-season meeting between the two teams, an 8-1 Cape Elizabeth win. Against the Capers (15-2-2) during the regular season the Wildcats totaled just 15 shots on goal all game, and were down 2-0 after one period.
“We wanted to show that we can play with these guys, and I think we did today,” York coach James Powers said. “That game earlier this season, we were still trying to find ourselves I think.”
In Friday’s semifinal the Wildcats out-shot the Capers 14-8 in the opening period, though like the regular-season meeting they were held scoreless after 20 minutes. Their best chance came when Mark Engholm deked his defender off his skates in the slot off a rush, but Engholm’s open shot at Peter Haber hit the goalie square in the chest.
The Capers, who were playing their first game in eight days, better neutralized the Wildcats’ pressure in the second period, holding them to just five shots on goal.
“We just had to weather the storm, and fortunately Peter was up to the test,” Capers coach Matthew Buotte said. “He let us kind of grow into the game.”
The Wildcats, however, broke onto the scoreboard first. Senior captain Jake Martin got nifty, flipping the puck between his legs with his back to the net near the right post and putting it past Haber with 4:45 left in the period. Jacob Nelson had the assist.
The Capers fought for the equalizer, but York goalie Keenan Gamache stonewalled Gus Frankwicz with a glove save with just over two minutes left. Gamache was beat on the faceoff, though, with Capers senior captain Alex Glidden rifling home the tying goal three seconds later, after Tarling won the draw to Gamache’s left.
Spencer Pickett put the Wildcats back up just over two minutes into the third, but Glidden tied things 2-2 exactly one minute later.
“We took advantage of some of our opportunities when we had them, and we buried a few pucks,” Powers said. “They came back and got goals to answer back.”
Tarling’s two goals, both assisted by Glidden off faceoffs, came with just over five minutes remaining.
“The puck just squirted out and I just did a little freeze and … (Ryan) Collins just had a good faceoff tie-up and all I really had to do was just move around and put it behind (the goalie),” Tarling said of the first goal. Of the second goal, he said “first I was thinking ‘pass it over to Glidden,’ and then I saw the defenseman covered him, and I just tried to put it on net and saw the five-hole was open, so I just tried to slide it past.”
“We have some good faceoff guys, and we did a good job winning some draws,” Buotte said. “We got a few bounces off the faceoffs that kind of broke for us.”
Haber made 28 saves for the win, while Gamache stopped 28 of 32 shots in his final high-school game.
“There’s some sad faces in there right now because a bunch of seniors know its their last high-school game,” Powers said. “It takes a very special team to walk off and not lose in this tournament. Only one gets to do it.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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