Broncs slip by Witches Taylor goal lifts Hampden in OT

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BREWER – Familiarity paid off for the Hampden Academy hockey team at the T.J. Ryan Center Wednesday night.

Greg Taylor finished off a three-on-two by sailing a 20-foot wrist shot over the stick side shoulder of Brewer High goalie Justin Boober with 2:48 left in overtime to enable the Broncos to trim the Witches 5-4.

Taylor’s game-winner off a Greg Brown drop pass ruined a stirring comeback by the 0-2 Witches, who forced the overtime with goals from Robbie Hayes and Jeremiah Richter in the final 1:38.

“Brown and I have played together our whole lives,” said Taylor. “There was a good breakout pass to him and I was trailing the play. I got it on my stick and let it rip.

“I saw the far side corner. There was someone going to the net. I knew I didn’t have anything [to shoot at] on the short side,” added Taylor, who scored from the right face-off circle.

Brown said Taylor hollered for the puck “but I knew not to give it to him right away. We know each other. The defenseman backed up where we wanted him to go, Greg fell into it and put it away.”

Brewer had outshot 2-0 Hampden 20-8 in the third period and OT until Taylor decided it.

“That’s how it goes a lot of the time,” said Richter, who had tied it with 21.9 seconds left. “One team controls the play and the other team gets a chance and puts it away.”

HA coach Tom King said, “You’ve got to give Brewer all the credit in the world, they kept coming back.”

Brad Spencer and Taylor staked Hampden to a 2-0 lead in the second period before Matt Grimes scored for Brewer with 12 seconds left.

Josh Kochis tied it 3:50 into the third period but Pat Bailey and Adam Standley scored 51 seconds apart midway through the period on Hampden Academy’s first two shots on goal of the period.

Hayes cut the lead to 4-3 on the power play with 1:38 left when he roofed a Tony Lorenz point shot that came to him off the back boards..

Richter then forced overtime thanks to a heads-up play by Josh Caldwell, who calmly flipped a high pass out of the defensive zone to create a two-on-one.

Richter broke in down the left wing and beat Hampden junior goalie Garrett Macgowan with a rising 22-foot wrister over his glove into the far corner.

“I have a pretty good wrist shot. I can honestly say that. They left me wide open so I made the best of it,” said Richter.

Macgowan made a couple of game-saving stops in overtime and finished with an impressive 27-save performance.

“This was my first overtime. It was nerve-wracking. But I thought I played well,” said the former two-year JV goalie.

Spencer opened the scoring with a 12-foot wrister off a deflected Dan Perkins pass and a wide open Taylor scored from 10 feet on a pass from behind the net by Brown. But Grimes gave the Witches some life when he swatted home an A.J. Hayes rebound from the top of the crease.

Kochis closed from the point and converted a Tim Largay pass with a 22-foot wrister to the far corner before an open Bailey snapped a Colin Ingram pass over Boober’s glove and Standley stretched to gather in a Brown pass before swatting the puck behind Boober, who played well (21 saves) in defeat.

BRONCOS 5, WITCHES 4 (OT)

Brewer (0-2) 0 1 3 0 ? 4

Hampden (2-0) 0 2 2 1 ? 5

First period ? No scoring. Penalties: Brewer, Largay, slashing, 6:01; HA, too many men on the ice (served by Taylor), 13:13.

Second period ? 1. HA, Spencer 1 (A. Caldwell, Perkins), 3:38; 2. HA, Taylor 1 (G. Brown, Morrell), 5:55; 3. Brewer, Grimes 2 (R. Hayes, A.J. Hayes), 14:48. Penalties: Brewer, Pooler, tripping, :19; HA, Ingerson, roughing, 7:27; Brewer, Pooler, roughing, 10:20; Brewer, Caldwell, 10-minute misconduct.

Third period ? 4. Brewer, Kochis 1 (Largay), 3:50; 5. HA, Bailey 2 (Ingram), 8:47; 6. HA, A. Standley 2 (G. Brown), 9:38; 7. Brewer, R. Hayes (Lorenz, A.J. Hayes), 13:22 (pp); 8. Brewer, Richter 2 (Caldwell), 14:38. Penalties: HA, Ingerson, slashing, 4:50; Brewer, Pooler, unsportsmanlike conduct, 9:38; HA, Bailey, hooking, 11:31.

Overtime ? 9. HA, Taylor 2 (G. Brown), 5:12. Penalties: none.

Shots on goal: Hampden 6-11-4-5 ?26; Brewer 6-5-14-6 ? 31

Goaltenders: HA, Macgowan (31 shots-27 saves); Brewer, Boober (26-21)

Power-play opportunities: Hampden 0 of 4; Brewer 1 of 4

Attendance: 140