Bangor beats up Lawrence Libbey, Leavitt spark Rams in quarterfinal

BANGOR – As goals go, the 100th of Justin Libbey’s in his career at Bangor High School was not terribly spectacular. It came Tuesday night with 10:42 remaining in the second period with the Rams en route to an easy 9-1 win over Lawrence in their Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal at Sawyer Arena.

Libbey picked up a loose puck in front of the Bulldogs’ goal and flicked a short wrist shot past Lawrence goalie Everett Flannery.

Despite the simplicity of the moment, the Rams exploded, pouring onto the ice to congratulate the senior.

“It was just an average goal,” Libbey said. The players around me have been really supportive and they all thanked me about 50 times. They really made it great thing.”

No greater, of course, than moving on to the semifinals where the Rams will meet Edward Little of Auburn, a 5-1 winner over Skowhegan, Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Central Maine Civic Center in Lewiston.

“It’s like probably in the long run I’ll look back and say ‘Wow, I scored 100 goals.’ But right now I’m just looking at the playoffs. Right now I’m thinking about Edward Little more than the 100 goals,” said Libbey, who tallied two goals and had two assists said.

At times it appeared Bangor could score almost at will against the under-manned Bulldogs, outshooting the visitors 53-10. While Lawrence played a tough, gritty game, the Rams were both physically stronger and had more depth.

“Bangor was stronger than we were,” Lawrence coach Mike Vigue said. “They’re a good skating team and they’re big and used their size.”

And they scored in flurries. The first goal coming just 4:19 into the game when senior Tyson Schroder blasted a shot from the right point that cleanly beat Flannery. Then just 14 seconds later Kyle Baker found the mark after a scramble in front of the Lawrence goal.

After freshman Kevin Cobb picked up their third goal to close out the first period, the Rams came out and scored three times within a three-minute period to open the second period.

Libbey scored twice during the stanza, the second of which put him at the century mark and defenseman Billy Baker sandwiched a goal in between Libbey’s on the power play when he rifled a shot in under the far post from the right point.

Freshman Ben Payson had two third-period goals for the Rams and junior Corey Mayhew closed out the scoring with just under two minutes remaining in the game.

The Rams’ forechecking never allowed Lawrence to get on track. The game was played for long stretches with Bangor on the attack in the Lawrence zone and when the talented Chris Warren managed to make a run at goal, the Rams defense closed him down, making it a rocking-chair evening for Bangor goalies Justin Climo and Chris Zielinski.

Warren scored the Bulldogs’ goal on a penalty shot in the third period when Bangor was whistled for handling the puck in the goal crease.

“We tried to beat them to the puck and win all of the battles along the boards and we did a pretty good job of that,” Bangor coach Bill Schwarz said. “Bobby Leavitt was our leader out there and Justin, well, Justin puts the puck in the net.”

Rams 9, Bulldogs 1

Lawrence (4-18) 0 0 1 ? 1

Bangor (15-6) 3 4 2 ? 9

First period ? 1. Ban, Schroder (Cobb, Leavitt), 4:19. 2. Ban, Baker (unassisted), 4:33. 3. Ban, Cobb (Leavitt, Libbey), 13:55. Penalties: Ban, bench (served by Cobb), too many men on ice, 1:40. Ban, Payson, elbowing, 8:45.

Second period ? 4. Ban, Libbey, (Leavitt, Schroder), 1:24. 5. Ban, Baker (Libbey) 3:26, pp. 6. Ban, Libbey (Leavitt, Franck), 4:18. No. 7 Ban, Payson (Baker) 12:23. Penalties: Law, Marin, slashing, 3:20. Law, Flannery, slashing, 7:17. Ban, Lever, slashing, 7:17. Ban, Baker, elbowing, 8:53. Ban. Baker, elbowing, 13:05.

Third period ? Ban, Payson (Baker, Huhn), 1:24. Law, Warren (unassisted), pp, penalty shot, 1:45. Ban, Mayhew (Paradis, Lander), 13:03. Penalties: Ban, Bailey, handling the puck in the crease, 1:45. Law, Schroder, interference, 1:54. Ban, Franck, hooking, 4:05. Law, Richard, interference, 9:25. Ban, Hurley, high sticking, 14:03.

Shots on goal: Lawrence 3-1-6?10;Bangor 17-23-12?53

Goaltenders: Law, Flannery (53 shots-44 saves); Ban, Climo (3 shots-3 saves), Zielinski (7 shots-6 saves)

Power-play opportunities: Lawrence 1 of 7; Bangor, 1 of 3