LEWISTON – Brad White’s goal 97 seconds into overtime gave Winslow a 5-4 victory over West champ Yarmouth and the Black Raiders’ fourth Class B state championship in five years.
The senior right wing scored four goals to carry the Raiders offensively while senior goalie Mike Bilodeau stopped 35 of 39 shots to handdefensively.
“They took it to us in spells, but we hung in there and our goalie was just outstanding. I can’t say enough about him,” said head coach Lee Bureau, who completed his eighth season with the Raiders.
As approximately 2,500 fans packed into the Central Maine Civic Center looked on, the Raiders overcame a huge shot disadvantage on the strength of Bilodeau’s diving saves, deflections, and one-handed grabs.
“He was THE man, no question about it. If he hadn’t been so solid in goal, it would have been a completely different game,” Bureau said. “These Yarmouth guys were a terrific hockey team. They just kept coming at us.”
Despite being outshot 39-19 overall and being limited to seven shots in the first two periods, Winslow took a 3-0 lead early in the second, but Yarmouth stormed back to tie it at 3-all by the end of the period.
With 2:20 left in regulation, White scored his third goal of the game off a pass from defenseman Chris Couturier. The 15-5-1 Clippers then tied it up again with 1:42 left to play on Jared Connell’s backhander to the left side of the net.
Couturier finished with three assists for the 21-2 Raiders and wing Dan Roy scored the second goal of the game.
For the Clippers, Brian Pott, Brian Aceto, and Evan Spear each scored goals. Goalie Matt Swan made 14 saves.
St. Dominic 3, Waterville 1
At CMCC in Lewiston, the St. Dominic Saints of Lewiston used a three-goal flurry during an eight-minute span in the second period to take the lead and never looked back.
The 15-6 Saints cruised to their second straight Class A state title and the program’s 24th state crown, regardless of class in front of a standing-room only crowd of 4,000 fans.
Joey Dumais, Brian Andrews, and Chris Manson each scored a goal for the Saints while goalie Ben Gray finished with 32 saves on 33 shots. Greg Moore finished with two assists.
Waterville’s Dean Carpenter scored the lone goal for the 16-7 Purple Panthers when he tied the score (1-1) with 5:42 left in the second period off assists from Zach Pelletier and Kyle McMorrow. Goalie David Kronenthal saved 32 of 35 shots.
The win was St. Dominic’s third over Waterville this season. It was the first state final appearance for the Panthers since 1997.
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