Crusaders, Rams tie 3-3> Goalie Allen backstops Bapst effort with 42 saves

BANGOR – At 11 p.m. Wednesday, John Bapst senior goalie Dan Allen couldn’t slow down as he talked about the overtime period in which he stopped 10 Bangor shots.

In only his second start in Class A, Allen should have been worn out after making 42 saves in the late-night game. But Allen couldn’t believe he didn’t have a harder time. In the end, he was the difference in John Bapst’s 3-3 overtime tie with Bangor.

“I stayed on my toes the whole game,” said Allen, who improved to 1-0-1 as the Crusaders jumped to 3-0-1. “I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never faced Justin Libbey and David Lisnik. I tried to play conservative through the whole game and stand up. I thought we’d have a harder time in [Class] A. I think we were underestimated.”

While Allen kept Bapst in the game down the stretch, the Crusaders took advantage of a disorderly Bangor bench by scoring two power-play goals in the first period when the Rams committed five penalties.

Nate Susi scored the first of three Crusader power-play goals 3 minutes, 32 seconds into the game, and Nate Waring capitalized on a 5-on-3 with 29 seconds left in the first period. He also scored a power-play goal in the second.

But the Rams matched the Crusaders, never letting them get more than a goal up. After Lisnik’s short-handed goal in the first, the Rams scored twice in the second.

With a Lisnik score off a 5-on-3 in the second – and Libbey’s close-range score off a rebound with 3:28 left in the period – the Rams kept it tied going into the third.

The problem for the Rams, once they regained discipline and began to create opportunities (peppering the John Bapst net with 16 shots in the second and 13 in the third), was Allen.

“We came out flat. We had so many penalties. Some people were talking after the whistle. That hurt us bad,” Bangor’s Libbey said. “We had plenty of opportunities. The puck didn’t go our way. Their goalie played huge. He had a great game.”

Both goalies had big saves in overtime. Bangor’s Nick Beaulieu stopped a Susi backhander and two other close-range bullets.

But Allen came up big repeatedly, facing a flurry of four shots during the first 50 seconds of the eight minute overtime, and later stopping two point-blank surprise shots by Libbey and Lisnik.

John Bapst coach Ray Thibodeau said he was pleasantly surprised by Allen’s performance in the Crusader’s toughest game yet.

“I think he sees it as a challenge,” Thibodeau said. “He’s getting better.’

Beaulieu made 28 saves for Bangor.

John Bapst 3, Bangor 3 (OT) Bangor (2-1-1) 1 2 0 0 – 3 John Bapst (3-0-1) 2 1 0 0 – 3

First period – 1. John Bapst, Susi (Smith), 3:32 (pp); 2. Bangor, Lisnik (una), 12:29 (sh); 3. John Bapst, Waring (Susi), 14:31 (pp). Penalties: Bangor, Lisnik, tripping, 3:24; Bangor, Deveau, unsportsmanlike, 7:18; Bangor, Leavitt, hitting from behind, 10:41; Bangor, Leavitt, unsportsmanlike, 10:41; Bangor, Cooper, unsportsmanlike, 13:50; John Bapst, Waring, hooking, 14:40

Second period – 4. Bangor, Lisnik (Libbey, Franck), 3:28 (pp); 5. John Bapst, Waring (Susi, Smith), 6:49 (pp); 6. Bangor, Libby (una), 11:32. Penalties: John Bapst, Susi, roughing, 3:38; John Bapst, Leighton, tripping, 2:45; Bangor, Franck, holding, 5:49; Bangor, Leavitt, roughing, 9:16; John Bapst, Ashley, roughing, 9:16; Bangor, Deveau, slashing, 14:35

Third period – None. Penalties: John Bapst, Fisher, holding, 3:41; John Bapst, Maiorano, slashing, 10:12; Bangor, Cooper, interference, 9:23; John Bapst, Todd, holding, 14:50

Overtime – None. Penalties: John Bapst, Leighton, roughing, 5:01; Bangor, Leavitt, roughing, 5:01

Shots on goal: Bangor 6-16-13-10-45; John Bapst 12-4-9-3-28

Power-play Opportunities: Bangor 1 of 5, John Bapst 3 of 9

Goaltenders: Bangor, Nick Beaulieu (28 shots-25 saves); John Bapst, Dan Allen (45-42)

Attendance: 150 (est.)