Stearns upsets Eagles 2-1> Goalie Munoz leads Minutemen to final vs. Winslow

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ORONO – The Stearns High School Minutemen knew they would have their hands full with Messalonskee High School’s explosive trio of Nick Bragg, Nate Ponitz and Mike Engert in their Tuesday Eastern Maine Class B schoolboy hockey semifinal here.

But junior goalie Jeremy Munoz made 32 saves and his mates held the Eagle trio to just two assists as the third-seeded Minutemen upset No. 2 Messslonskee of Oakland 2-1.

Stearns, now 15-4-1, will take on top seed Winslow, 18-2-1, in Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. Eastern B final at the Alfond Arena.

“We lost to a good team,” said Ponitz, who rang an open 16-foot wrist shot off the crossbar with a minute left. “Their goalie played well and their defense held the blue line. And the puck didn’t bounce for us.”

“Our defense really stepped up for us,” said senior center Jesse McEwen, who got the game-winner in the second period.

“The defense let me see the puck,” said Munoz. “This was the biggest win of my life. This is bigger than our state championship in football.”

“We just tried to get the puck out of the zone. We didn’t try to rush with the puck,” said junior defenseman Aaron Thibodeau who, like several of his teammates, considered Stearns’ overall performance to be their best of the year.

Ben Harris staked Messalonskee to a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first period as the puck was poked away from Bragg in the slot to Harris, who snapped a 12-foot wrist shot over Munoz’s glove.

Josh Lynch tied it later in the first period by finishing off a pretty passing play. Justin Grant got the puck over to the far post to Frank Bowley, who threw it back across to Lynch for a tap-in.

“It was a here-you-go-put-it-in-pass,” said Lynch.

In the second period, McEwen got the game-winner at the 9:48 mark.

Josh Perry’s shot from the left point deflected off Jamie Brooker to McEwen at the far post and he just had to shovel a backhander into the open net.

“It was a garbage goal but I’ll take it,” said McEwen.

Both teams had great chances throughout the entertaining end-to-end thriller but Munoz and Ryan Ridky (42 saves) were superb between the pipes.

There was a confrontation after the final whistle and another during the post-game handshake but order was restored. Bragg picked up the only penalty, a fighting major and game disqualification.

In the first game, Winslow senior center Erik Gunning said he still remembers last year’s year’s heart-breaking 3-2 overtime loss to Presque Isle in the Eastern Maine Class B schoolboy hockey semifinal.

So he took it upon himself to make sure it didn’t happen again.

Gunning had two goals and an assist and his brother, Mark, scored the clinching goal with 13 seconds left, as Winslow built a 5-0 lead and held off a furious Gardiner rally to take the win.

“It’s my senior year and I didn’t want a repeat of last year,” said Gunning. “We got cocky (with a 5-1 lead after two periods).”

Top seed Winslow, 18-2-1, snapped 14-8 Gardiner’s seven-game winning streak.

Winslow’s Jake Savasuk scored the lone goal of the first period with a 14-foot backhander between Jared Baker’s pads and then Winslow scored four times in a span of 5:56 in the second period to built the five-goal cushion.

Erik Gunning capitalized on two Jason Chadwick turnovers to make it 3-0 as he took an attempted clear out in his chest, brought it down and snapped a 10-foot wrist shot over Baker’s glove into the short side and then did likewise from the middle of the slot off an errant pass.

Gunning then passed to Seth Karter for a 20-foot slap shot from between the dots and Jacob Fraser capped the flurry with a great rush down the left wing and a one-handed poke between Baker’s pads.

But Gardiner began its comeback with seven seconds left in the second period when Lance Quinn knocked home a Chadwick rebound.

“We were intimidated by Winslow but once we got the first goal, that got us rolling,” said Gardiner junior center Luke Takatsu.

Minutemen 2, Eagles 1

Stearns 1 1 0 – 2 Messalonskee 1 0 0 – 1

First period – 1. Messalonskee, Harris (Ponitz, Bragg), 7:25, (PP); 2. Stearns, Lynch (Grant, Bowley), 13:15. Penalties – Stearns, Brooker, slashing, 6:16; Stearns, Perry, cross checking, 14:12.

Second period – 3. Stearns, McEwen (Perry, Brooker), 9:48. Penalties – Stearns, Brooker, holding, 2:41; Messalonskee, R. Blethen, hitting from behind, 6:39.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Messalonskee, Ridky (served by N. Bragg), 2:04; Messalonskee, Ridky, tripping (served by Sawyer), 12:42; Messalonskee, N. Bragg, fighting and game disqualification, 15:00.

Shots on goal: Stearns 23-6-16-45; Messalonskee 12-12-9-33.

Goaltenders: Stearns, Jeremy Munoz (33 shots, 32 saves); Messalonskee, Ryan Ridky (44 shots, 42 saves), Phil Leigh (1-1).

Power plays: Stearns 0-3; Messalonskee 1-3.