Witches win with 2 of a kind> Brewer to battle Presque Isle tonight for regional Class B title

loading...

Here’s what a Presque Isle High forward can expect to see when skating toward the Brewer zone with the puck during tonight’s Eastern Maine Class B hockey championship game at Alfond Arena:

Trouble.

Trouble.

Here’s what the Presque Isle goalie can expect to hear when the Witches feed the puck back to either the right or left point every other Brewer shift:

Boom. Whiz.

Boom. Whiz.

Here’s why Brewer coach Bill Schwarz thinks the Witches are the No. 1-ranked B team in Eastern Maine and a good bet to win the whole frozen enchilada:

Chris Roeder.

Ben Roeder.

“Put it this way,” said Schwarz, following Monday night’s 3-0 Brewer win over Hampden Academy in the EM semifinals at Alfond. “When the Roeders got here we were an average program. As the Roeders have gotten better, the program has gotten better.”

They are the most eye-catching element of this multi-talented Brewer team. Identical twins. Both senior defensemen. Both 6-foot-1, 180-pounds of quick-skating, hard-shooting, did-anyone-get-the-number-of-that-truck-checking hockey players paired cruelly on the same shift.

After watching the Roeders (pronounced Raiders) help Brewer limit his Broncos to three shots over the final two periods Monday night, and after seeing Chris Roeder score the only goal the Witches would need on a sonic, 30-foot slapshot 38 seconds into the game, Hampden coach Paul Henderson could only nod his head appreciatively.

“They’re both extremely strong. They both move the puck extremely well. And they both use each other so well,” Henderson said.

It doesn’t take long watching these Witches to notice there is an undeniable symmetry to the Roeders as a defense tandem seldom seen at this level.

Chris, No. 9, rushes the net. Ben, No. 11, stays back. Ben flips a blind pass from behind his own net. Chris is there to meet the puck. Smooth. Seamless.

Both are offensive-minded in this turn-taking fashion. Chris has 11 goals and 12 assists after Monday night for 23 points in 21 games. That gives him a one-point season edge on Ben, who has 7-15 for 22 points.

Talking afterward, the lanky, blue-eyed, blond brothers both scoffed at the pop psychology-fed “twin” image we’ve all seen in made-for-TV movies. Neither feels compelled to prove he’s different from the other.

“There’s no competition between us,” said Chris. “I couldn’t tell you how many points I have or he has… I love playing with Ben. I feel so much more confident with him out there.”

Asked the biggest difference in their games, Ben could point to only a subtle distinction.

“Chris is a little more aggressive physically. I tend to carry the puck a little more,” he said.

That they wound up a tandem is only natural. What else do you do with two babies born at the same time but take them everywhere together? Their father, Don, took them to skating lessons at Alfond when they were four or five. From there, it was on to youth hockey, playing for a team their father coached.

By the time Schwarz got them at Brewer High, it was obvious the Roeders were, well, naturals.

“When I first saw them as freshmen, they obviously didn’t have experience, but they were great skaters,” recalled Schwarz. “By their sophomore year they made their presence known in the league.”

Two of a kind and proud of it could be the Roeders’ motto on or off the ice. Chris ranks seventh in his class at Brewer. Ben ranks fifth. Both have decided to attend the University of Maine next year where each plans to study chemical engineering.

Asked about walking on to the UMaine hockey team, both said they are considering the idea but haven’t decided.

“Chemical engineering is very demanding,” reminded Ben.

The immediate future is what’s uppermost in their minds. This is their last shot at completing the progression they helped initiate at Brewer. When the Roeders were freshmen, Brewer get to the EM semifinals before losing. Their sophomore year, Brewer lost in the EM final. Last year, Brewer lost in the state game.

“This year we want to win the whole thing,” said Chris Roeder, one of two of a kind.