BANGOR – Bangor High School’s Class A Rams may have beaten Winslow’s Class B Black Raiders 6-1 at Sawyer Arena Thursday but there were some anxious moments for the unbeaten Rams.

Just 8:05 into the game, they trailed 1-0 and lost talented senior defenseman Ben Payson, who received a game misconduct at the 6:50 mark.

But Payson’s younger brother Nick, a sophomore center, notched a hat trick and an assist and sophomore defenseman Dylan George had two goals and three assists as Bangor improved to 4-0.

Payson now has 11 goals and three assists.

Transfer goalie (John Bapst) Jamie Hardy made his first start an impressive one as he made 17 saves, including several gems.

Winslow, playing without three veteran forwards due to disciplinary reasons, fell to 1-2.

The score was misleading because the young and swift-skating Raiders generated just as many good scoring chances as the Rams did over the first two periods.

Zach Cioppa opened the scoring with a power play one-timer from the slot off a precise pass from behind the net by Clint Willoughby.

But Payson tied it 4:07 later with a five-on-three power-play goal as he calmly roofed Mike McPike’s pass out from behind the net.

George gave Bangor the lead for good at the 8:14 mark of the second period and Payson expanded it to 3-1 5:30 later.

Bangor parlayed the neutral zone trap and tenacious backchecking into a dominant third period and George got the clincher at the 9:13 mark before Payson and Ben Estabrook added shorthanded goals 16 seconds apart.

Bangor outshot Winslow 11-1 in the third period and 31-18 for the game.

“They had a lot of two-on-ones in the first two periods but the trap enabled us to slow down the tempo,” said Hardy who added he was “pretty happy” with his performance.

The talented George admitted he “tried to stay back more and save my energy” after Ben Payson was tossed for disputing a call because he knew he would be logging a ton of ice time.

But he did get forward to put the Rams ahead for good with a scintillating rush down the left wing after faking out a Raider defenseman and snapping a 16-foot wrist shot through the pads of Winslow goalie Devon Grenier.

“Coach [Dan Kerluke] has told us to fake to the inside and cut outside,” explained George. “Then I saw the five-hole. That was the only spot open.”

Payson made it 3-1 thanks to a terrific play by Andy Marin, who was knocked down in the corner but bounced up quickly, regained the puck and slipped it to Payson, who one-timed a 15-footer over Grenier’s glove.

In the third period, George carried the puck to the base of the left circle and beat Grenier from a difficult angle.

Payson, the game’s most dominant forward, capped his hat trick by avoiding a Grenier pokecheck as he sliced across the low slot and flipping it home.

Estabrook capped the scoring with a 20-footer that squeezed through Grenier’s pads.

“We learned how to handle adversity tonight,” said Kerluke.

Winslow coach Don Skillings said, “I was comfortable with the way we played in the first two periods but we broke down in the third.”

RAMS 6, BLACK RAIDERS 1

Winslow (1-2) 1 0 0 ? 1

Bangor (4-0) 1 2 3 ? 6

First period ? 1. Win, Cioppa (Willoughby), 8:05 (pp); 2. Ban, N. Payson (McPike, George), 12:12 (pp). Penalties: Ban, N. Payson, interference, 6:12; Ban, B. Payson 10-minute misconduct and game misconduct; Win, Lizzotte, tripping, 10:13; W, C. Ellis, high sticking, 11:46.

Second period ? 3. Ban, George (N. Payson, Eremita), 8:14; 4. Ban, N. Payson (Marin, George), 13:44. Penalties: Ban, Perry, interference, 6:37; Ban, B. Silver, 10-minute misconduct, 6:51; Win, Cosgrove, interference, 9:12; Ban, Prescott, cross checking, 10:42; Win, Cosgrove, holding, 14:38.

Third period ? 5. Ban, George (Whitney), 9:13; 6. Ban, N. Payson (George), 11:18 (sh); 7. Ban, Estabrook (Prescott, Perry), 11:34 (sh). Penalties: Ban, J. Silver, roughing, 4:50; Win, Joseph, roughing, 4:50; Ban, Marin, tripping, 11:05.

Shots on goal: Winslow 8-9-2?18; Bangor 14-6-11 – 31

Goaltenders: Winslow, Grenier (31 shots-25 saves); Bangor, Hardy (18-17)

Power-play opportunities: Winslow 1-4; Bangor 1-4

Attendance: 120 (est.)