March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Monberg goal sparks Orono to first win

ORONO – Orono High School freshman defenseman Craig Kill didn’t pick up an assist on Chris Monberg’s game-winning, third-period goal against Foxcroft Academy Saturday night for one very good reason. He wasn’t on the ice.

But Kill figured prominently in the game-winner, according to Monberg.

“I had just broken my stick so I went to the bench. Craig gave me his stick so I skated as hard as I could to the front of the net,” said Monberg, who arrived in time to flip the rebound of an Adam Sewall shot over Ponies goalie Ben Orton to break a 2-2 tie and lead the Riots to a 4-2 triumph at Alfond Arena.

His goal came 5:08 into the period and followed several superb saves by Orton to keep the game tied.

Orono’s win was its first after three losses. Foxcroft fell to 3-4.

Sophomore center Sewall had the Riots’ other three goals, including an empty-netter with a minute left.

On the game-winner, Sewall took a 30-foot slap shot from the left wing that Orton stopped, only to have the rebound bounce into the low slot.

“It was the end of my shift and I was just trying to put it on net,” said Sewall.

“I tried to go out for it but it was too far away,” said Orton.

Freshman goalie Stuart Cady preserved the Riots’ lead with 1:09 left when he closed his pads to rob Michael Lebel. Foxcroft’s sophomore forward had made a great move to get around an Orono defenseman and tried to slip a point-blank backhander through Cady’s pads. Lebel’s effort came while the Ponies were shorthanded.

Foxcroft’s Jamie Costa staked his team to a pair of one-goal leads in the first period only to have Sewall answer for the Riots.

Costa opened the scoring at the 6:09 mark, pouncing on the rebound of a Seth Sands turnaround slapper, pulling the puck around Cady and sliding it into the open net.

Sewall tied it 5:02 later with a shorthanded goal when he stole the puck from a Pony defenseman in the high slot, took a couple of strides and snapped a rising 16-footer over Orton’s glove.

Costa regained the lead for Foxcroft at the 13:23 mark when he fired home a loose puck through a partial screen from the faceoff circle to Cady’s right. The puck squeezed through the goalie’s pads.

Sewall tied it off a four-on-two. Tom Hite lost the puck while stickhandling in the high slot, but Sewall followed it up with another quick shot over Orton’s glove.

“That’s where I beat him on my first goal so I thought I’d go there again,” said Sewall.

The Riots outshot Foxcroft 41-32, including a 30-11 edge over the final two periods. Cady finished with 30 saves while Orton made 37 stops.

Foxcroft missed scoring leader Ben Preston, who is out for the year with a bruised spine. Another of its top scorers, Sands, spent 18 minutes in the penalty box.

Red Riots 4, Ponies 2

Orono 2 0 2 – 4 Foxcroft 2 0 0 – 2

First Period – 1. FA, Costa (S. Sands, Smith), 6:09; 2. Orono, Sewall (una.), 11:11, sh; 3. FA, Costa (una.), 13:23, pp; 4. Orono, Sewall (Hite), 13:52. Penalties: Orono, Holmes, interference, 10:39; Orono, Cady (served by Berry), holding, 11:42; Orono, Lundy, slashing, 12:19; FA, D. Orton, 12:19.

Second Period – No scoring. Penalties: Orono, Powers, elbowing, 1:17; FA, S. Sands, hitting after whistle, 2:32; Orono, Kill, hitting after whistle, 2:32; Orono, Lundy, charging, 4:18; FA, Jordan, roughing, 8:24; FA, S. Sands, interference and 10-minute misconduct, 9:26; Orono, Monberg, high sticking, 10:25.

Third Period – 5. Orono, Monberg (Sewall), 5:08; 6. Orono, Sewall (Lundy), 14:00, sh; Penalties: FA, D. Orton, interference, :25; Orono, Berry, slashing, 2:19; FA, D. Orton, interference, 8:53; FA, S. Sands, roughing, 9:28; FA, S. Sands, interference, 13:21; FA, Jordan, cross checking, 15:00.

Shots on goal: Orono 11-12-18 – 41; Foxcroft 21-1-10 – 32

Goalies: Orono, Stuart Cady; FA, Ben Orton

Power plays: Orono 1-7; Foxcroft 1-6


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