Stearns seeking first title vs. Winslow tonight

For the first time in their 12-year history, the Stearns High School Minutemen from Millinocket will play for an Eastern Maine Class B hockey title on 6:30 p.m. Thursday night when they take on Winslow at the Alfond Arena.

The third-seeded Minutemen, coming off a 2-1 win over Messalonskee of Oakland on Tuesday night, will take a 15-4-1 record into the game. Top seed Winslow, a 6-4 victor over Gardiner on Tuesday, is 18-2-1.

One of the keys to the game will be Stearns junior goalie Jeremy Munoz, who has made 66 saves on 69 shots in playoff wins over Presque Isle and Stearns. He also stopped 27 in a season-ending 4-0 shutout of Foxcroft Academy giving him a 1.00 goals-against average and a .969 save percentage in those three games.

Munoz is excited about the upcoming challenge.

“It’s awesome,” said the 5-foot-6, 155-pound Munoz, who credited his defense with helping make his current streak possible.

“My defense is letting me see the puck now. Early in the season, they weren’t,” said Munoz who added that the forwards have backchecked well making the defensemen’s jobs easier.

As for his own play, Munoz said, “I’ve been controlling rebounds. That’s been a key right there.”

Munoz feels he has improved thanks to attending summer hockey schools in Prince Edward Island.

“There are a lot of good coaches up there and they teach you to anticipate where the puck is going before it gets there,” said Munoz who will have to call on his anticipation against a potent Winslow team featuring the high-scoring line of Erik Gunning between brother Mark Gunning and Seth Karter.

“I’m always going to have to be a step ahead of them,” said Munoz. “They like to do give-and-gos in front of the net. The shoot quickly and their shots are accurate.”

Stearns assistant coach Peter Portwine said Munoz “has been our most consistent player all year. He’s been our MVP. He’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Winslow and Stearns met twice this season. Winslow beat Stearns 6-5 and tied the Minutemen 4-4.

Messalonskee Athletic Director Gwen Bacon said her school is investigating the problems that occurred at the conclusion of the game with Stearns on Tuesday and disciplinary action will be taken if deemed necessary.

Messalonskee senior captain Nick Bragg attacked Stearns’ Aaron Thibodeau behind the net after the final buzzer and received a fighting major and game disqualification. Messalonskee junior Chad Blethen then attacked Lynch and threw punches at him during the post-game handshake. Blethen was not penalized.

In addition, Maranacook hockey coach Dean Stockford reportedly made a derogatory comment to the Messalonskee coaching staff about the post-game behavior of their players and Messalonskee coach John Delgiudice had to be restrained from going after him.

“This is obviously a concern,” said Bacon, who was ill and couldn’t attend the game. “We want to be the utmost sports we can be in all activities. But I want to find out all the details and talk to everyone involved before we make a decision.”