ORONO – Down 7-2 entering the third period, the Stearns Minutemen had two choices.

They could board the bus and say it was nice being in their first Eastern Maine Class B ice hockey final, or attempt one of hockey’s biggest comebacks since Mario Lemieux battled Hodgkin’s disease and returned to the NHL.

The 15-5-1 Minutemen of Millinocket chose the latter and very nearly pulled it off, pouring in four goals on six shots, before Winslow’s Chad Dubois netted his second goal at 10:35 for an 8-6 victory at Alfond Arena Thursday night.

Winslow will play Western Maine champ Scarborough at 1 p.m. Saturday at Alfond for the state crown.

“We knew we had a game on our hands,” Stearns coach Rod Daigle said. “But you know something, we didn’t get a lot of breaks tonight, our passes weren’t connecting, we were working hard but nothing was clicking.

“In the third period, I told the guys `look, we’re here, it’s a privilege to be here, let’s go out and make a comeback,” he said.

Stearns shortened its lines for the third period, and found offensive power almost immediately.

Right wing Jamie Brooker got things going at 6:14 on a power-play goal, beating Jon Taylor on a wrist shot after previous shots from Jared Merry, who collected an assist, as did Alex Morrison.

Justin Grant then put in a pair at 7:35 and 8:52 respectively, on assists from Josh Lynch and Frank Bowley.

Lynch then marched the Minutemen to within one at 9:46 on assists from Aaron Thibodeau and Bowley, to make it 7-6 Winslow with 5:14 remaining.

But Stearns had an uphill battle going, as they were outshot 32-18 overall, and found themselves on the losing side of a 13-5 first-period deficit on shots.

After jumping out to a 2-1 first-period lead with goals in the first five minutes from Mark Gunning and Jacob Fraser, Winslow exploded in the second period for five goals.

“What I told them at the beginning of the year was `we’re going to work on speed and being there first,’ ” Winslow coach Lee Bureau said. “If we get there first, we’re going to be OK. That’s our game plan.”

Sophomore Mark Gunning put on a second-period show, netting three goals within seven minutes, after Seth Karter beat goalie Jeremy Munoz over the shoulder with a slapshot from just inside the top of the right circle 10 seconds into the second.

“He was frustrated, his concentration was everywhere, he had trouble picking up,” Daigle said of his junior goaltender. “I said to him `look, I’m not pulling you, you deserve to be here and I’m not pulling you because we’re coming back.’

“In that third period, he hung pretty tough,” Daigle said.

Facing a penalty shot from Winslow’s young gun Mark Gunning, Munoz threw off Gunning’s shot with his blocker at 14:29, to finish with 24 saves.

But that was one of Mark Gunning’s few misses all night, as the left winger finished with four goals and one assist. Older brother Erik Gunning finished with four assists, including two on Mark’s goals.

Raiders 8, Minutemen 6

Stearns 1 1 4 – 6 Winslow 2 5 1 – 8

First period – 1. Winslow, M. Gunning (E. Gunning) 2:51, 2. W, Fraser (Dubois) 4:50, 3. S, J. Lynch (Bowley, Grant) 14:42; Penalties – Stearns, Libby, hooking, 6:21; Stearns, Grant, interference, 8:43; W, Bellows, charging, 12:35

Second period – 4. Winslow, Karter (E. Gunning) :10, 5. Winslow, M. Gunning (E. Gunning) :38, 6. Stearns, McEwen (Ja. Merry, Jamieson) 1:03, 7. Winslow, M. Gunning (Karter) 1:42, 8. Winslow, M. Gunning (E. Gunning) 7:36, 9. Winslow, Dubois (McCann) 11:51; Penalties – Winslow, Bellows, elbowing, 3:19; Winslow, Poulin, tripping, 9:35

Third period – 10. Stearns, Brooker (Ja. Merry, Morrison) 6:14 (pp), 11. Stearns, Grant (Lynch, Bowley) 7:35, 12. Stearns, Grant (Lynch) 8:52, 13. Stearns, Lynch (Thibodeau, Bowley) 9:46, 14. Winslow, Dubois (M. Gunning) 10:35; Penalties – Winslow, Poulin, tripping, 5:27; Stearns, Munoz, Illegal substitution, 14:29

Shots on goal – Stearns 5-7-6-18; Winslow 13-16-3-32

Goaltenders – Stearns, Munoz; Winslow, Taylor

Power-play opportunities – Stearns 1 of 4, Winslow 0 of 2