Mount Ararat ousts Bangor Bartlett goal gives Eagles big lift

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BANGOR – Mount Ararat High School junior right wing Josh Bartlett said he hasn’t converted a breakaway all year.

He picked an opportune time to break that trend.

Bartlett scored with a second-period backhander 3:39 after Bangor High’s Tim Woodcock had cut the margin to 3-1 and that sewed up an impressive 4-1 Mount Ararat victory over Bangor in their Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal at Sawyer Arena Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Eagles of Topsham, 10-10-1, will now face top seed Lewiston, 14-4-2, in Saturday’s semifinal in Lewiston.

Bangor, the fourth seed, wound up 10-9.

The Eagles parlayed their superior quickness and tenacity into a dominant performance as they outshot Bangor 31-12.

And Bartlett’s goal recaptured the momentum Bangor had gained on the Woodcock goal.

Bartlett jumped off the bench behind the Ram defense on a line change and the puck bounced off a Ram skate to him.

Bartlett fought through a check, pulled the puck around Bangor goalie Aaron Buzzell and backhanded it home.

“He left me about six inches and I slid it in,” said Bartlett.

The line of sophomore center Drew Erickson between junior left wing Jesse Snider and Bartlett scored all four goals.

Snider scored 22 seconds apart in the first period and Erickson added an unassisted shorthanded score at the 3:45 mark of the second period before Woodcock tipped Ryan Largay’s point shot past Eagle goalie Kris Morgan.

An unattended Snider opened the scoring at the 4:11 mark when he pounced on the rebound of a Jot Johnson point shot off a faceoff win and swept a 10-footer past the helpless Buzzell.

“Right place at the right time,” said Snider.

His line buzzed the Ram net soon after the ensuing center- ice faceoff and Snider pulled the puck out of a crowded goalmouth and roofed a 14-footer over Buzzell’s glove.

“I didn’t see much of that one,” said Buzzell.

“It went in off the crossbar,” said Snider.

Erickson made it 3-0 3:45 into the second period off a miscommunication in front of the Ram net.

Bangor’s Ben Payson left it in front of Buzzell but it was Erickson who wound up with it and he roofed an eight-footer over Buzzell’s glove.

“They outskated and outworked us. They were in sync,” said Bangor captain and left winger John Huhn.

The Eagles always had numbers on the defensive side of the puck and would create transition opportunities off turnovers.

“Pressure [on the puck] is a huge part of our game,” said Mount Ararat first-year coach Mike Abreu. “Our guys played well tonight.”

The Eagles also received a tremendous performance from smooth-skating junior defenseman Mark Rogers, who controlled the tempo and was dangerous every time he touched the puck.

“They were the better team tonight. They deserved to win,” said Bangor first-year coach Dan Kerluke.

EAGLES 4, RAMS 1

Mount Ararat (10-10-1) 2 2 0 ? 4

Bangor (10-9) 0 1 0 ? 1

First period ? 1. MA, Snider (Johnson), 4:11; 2. MA, Snider (Bartlett, Erickson), 4:33. Penalties: Ban, Cobb, holding, 9:43; Ban, Mansfield, slashing, 14:01.

Second period ? 3. MA, Erickson (unassisted), 3:45 (sh); 4. Ban, Woodcock (Largay, Cobb), 9:08; 5. MA, Bartlett (unassisted), 12:47. Penalties: MA, Krug, holding, 2:50; MA, Reeber, holding, 7:38; Ban, N. Payson, roughing, 7:38; MA, Snider, hooking, 8:42; Ban, B. Payson, elbowing, 9:22.

Third period ? No scoring. Penalties: Ban, Huhn, cross checking, 4:12; Ban, Eremita, tripping, 6:52; Ban, Largay, roughing and 10-minute misconduct, 14:40; Ban, Mansfield, roughing and 10-minute misconduct.

Shots on goal: Mount Ararat 11-14-6? 31; Bangor 4-5-3? 12

Goaltenders: Mount Ararat, Morgan (12 shots-11 saves); Bangor, Buzzell (31-27), Daly (14:19 of 3rd, 0-0)

Power-play opportunities: Mount Ararat 0-6, Bangor 0-2

Attendance: 250 (est.)