Cocklin’s quick goal sparks Witches’ win Dunbar, Brewer shut out archrival Bangor

loading...

BREWER – When junior defenseman Josh Kochis was sent to the Brewer High School bench by referee Jimmy Evans because he didn’t have all of his straps properly fastened to his helmet, Jamison Cocklin replaced him on the Witch power play.

Fifty seconds later, Cocklin scored with a wrist shot from the left point and that would be the only goal the Witches would need as they went on to post an impressive 4-0 high school hockey triumph over their archrivals, the Bangor Rams.

The Witches improved to 10-8 and earned their second win over Bangor, which concluded its regular season at 5-12-1. Brewer beat Bangor 3-2 on Dec. 18.

Junior left wing Jeremiah Richter scored a pair of goals and his sophomore linemate, right winger Robbie Hayes, had a goal and an assist. Junior goalie Spencer Dunbar made 21 saves en route to his second shutout of the season.

Cocklin’s goal came 2:14 into the game and was set up by A.J. Hayes, the senior who centers the line between Richter and his brother Robbie. Hayes sent the puck back to Cocklin from along the goal line.

“I saw that [Andy] Pooler had a screen in front, so I just flipped it to the net,” said Cocklin, who beat Ram goalie Dominic Dinardo high to the short [blocker] side.

Dinardo said he never saw the shot.

The Witches dominated the game, outshooting Bangor 38-21.

Bangor had played the previous night, dropping a 6-1 decision to defending state Class A champ Waterville, while the rested Witches hadn’t played since the weekend.

Dinardo kept the Rams in the game with several superb saves among his 34.

Richter gave the Witches an important insurance goal at the 9:49 mark of the second period and he had the game’s final goal after Robbie Hayes had made it 3-0 at the 3:43 mark of the final period.

“We played pretty well,” said Richter. “We didn’t play a perfect game, we let up a little in the second period. But this was a big win for us. We knew Bangor had played Waterville last night and that gave us an advantage. ”

Richter’s second-period goal was set up by Robbie Hayes, who split two Ram defensemen and threw the puck in front after first trying to pull it around Dinardo.

“I had the whole open net,” said Richter, who swept a backhander between the diving Dinardo and the left post.

Pat Frazier hit the outside of the post for Bangor later in the period and John Huhn was tied up in front, forcing him to roll the rebound of a Ben Payson shot wide of a half-empty net.

Robbie Hayes made it 3-0 on the power play after a bouncing puck wound up on his stick.

“[Ram defenseman] Grant Bailey kicked it with his skate and then it hit my skate,” said Hayes, who then fired a 16-footer between Dinardo and the right post.

Bangor senior defenseman Jim Brown stumbled and fell headfirst into the boards with 10:29 left and, after a 25-minute delay, was transported by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center with a possible concussion.

Richter closed out the scoring with a rising wrist shot into the short side corner off a two-on-one.

Bangor senior center and captain Kyle Baker said, “We came out flat. We couldn’t get much consistent pressure on them. Their defense played well.”

WITCHES 4, RAMS 0

Bangor (5-12-1) 0 0 0 ? 0

Brewer (10-8) 1 1 2 ? 4

First period ? 1. Br, Cocklin 3 (A.J. Hayes), 2:14 (pp). Penalties: Ba, Largay, interference, 1:24; Ba, Bailey, interference, 2:14; Ba, Largay, roughing, 14:10.

Second period ? 2. Br, Richter 15 (R. Hayes, Kotredes), 9:49. Penalties: Br, R. Hayes, cross checking, 4:53.

Third period ? 3. Br, R. Hayes 10 (Pooler), 3:43 (pp); 4. Br, Richter 16 (Kochis), 7:294. Penalties: Ba, Huhn, unsportsmanlike conduct, 1:56; Ba, Mayhew, slashing, 11:31; Ba, Dinardo, hooking (served by Frazier), 12:00.

Shots on goal: Bangor 5-9-7?21; Brewer 12-10-16?38

Goaltenders: Bangor, Dinardo (38 shots-34 saves); Brewer, Dunbar (21-21)

Power-play opportunities: Bangor 0 of 1; Brewer 2 of 6

Attendance: 175 (est.)