BANGOR – Mount Ararat High School senior left wing Josh Bartlett admitted, “I have problems on breakaways.”

But he converted one with 12:06 remaining to break a 2-2 tie and supply the Eagles with a 4-2 high school hockey victory over Bangor at Sawyer Arena Thursday night.

The Topsham-based Eagles improved to 12-5 while Bangor fell to 11-5.

Bartlett poked the puck free and then kicked it past a Ram defenseman at the defensive blue line before skating in alone on Ram goalie Aaron Buzzell with linemate Ben Millar right behind him.

“Ben and I have had two-on-ohs before and I passed it and we screwed it up. So I figured I’d shoot it this time,” said Bartlett, whose shot deflected in off Buzzell’s body.

“I tried to go upper glove side and the goalie got it with his shoulder. I was lucky,” said Bartlett.

Jesse Snider’s second goal of the game, an empty-netter after he had blocked a point shot and chased it down, sewed up the win with 11 seconds left.

Bangor had manufactured a pair of one-goal leads in the second period on goals by T. J. Vanidestine and Nick Payson.

Snider answered Vanidestine’s goal on the power play. Drew Erickson tied it 2-2.

After an evenly played first period, the Eagles used their superior quickness, experience, and tenacity to win most of the battles for loose pucks over the final two periods. They also did an exceptional job getting numbers on the defensive side, limiting the Rams to few good scoring opportunities.

“This and the NYA game were the best two games we’ve played all year,” said Bartlett.

“We pretty much put it together tonight,” agreed senior defenseman and co-captain Mark Rogers, who had two assists and turned in a dominant performance in all three zones.

“Our goalie [Kris Morgan] had an outstanding effort, our defensemen got the puck out of the zone, and we got the puck deep [in the offensive zone],” Rogers added.

An uncovered Vanidestine opened the scoring 42 seconds into the middle period when he swept Ben Payson’s diagonal pass behind Morgan from just beyond the top of the crease.

Snider equalized when he ghosted into the high slot, took a precise pass from Rogers, and snapped a 20-footer past Buzzell’s blocker.

Payson regained the lead at the 11:29 mark when he collected a loose puck and wristed a shot from the left circle through traffic and in off the post.

But Erickson drew Mount Ararat level 1:18 later when he tapped the puck into a vacant net after Rogers’ booming slapper from the top of the left circle hit the short side post and deflected into his path.

Mount Ararat outshot Bangor 23-19.

“It was a tough loss. They outworked us a little bit. We made a couple of mental mistakes,” said Bangor coach Dan Kerluke, whose Rams did a good job protecting the front of their net throughout. “On the third goal, we should have gotten the puck deep. We didn’t and it cost us. That’s the way the ball bounces. We’ll bounce back.”

EAGLES 4, RAMS 2

Mount Ararat (12-5) 0 2 2 ? 4

Bangor (11-5) 0 2 0 ? 2

First period ? No scoring. Penalties: MA, Johnson, holding, 13:16.

Second period ? 1. Bangor, Vanidestine (B. Payson), :42; 2. MA, J. Snider (Rogers), 9:03 (pp); 3. Bangor, N. Payson (unassisted), 11:29; 4. MA, Erickson (Rogers), 12:47. Penalties: MA, J. Snider, interference, 2:14; Bangor, B. Payson, interference, 4:32; Bangor, Prescott, elbowing, 8:17; Bangor, B. Payson, roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct, 12:33; MA, Johnson, roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct, 12:33; Bangor, George, slashing, 14:11.

Third period ? 5. MA, Bartlett (R. Birchrest), 2:54; 6. MA, J. Snider (unassisted), 14:49 (en). Penalties: MA, Johnson, tripping, 10:25.

Shots on goal: Mount Ararat 3-11-9?23; Bangor 6-6-7?19

Goaltenders: Mount Ararat, Morgan (19 shots-17 saves); Bangor, Buzzell (23-20)

Power-play opportunities: Mount Ararat 0-2; Bangor 0-3

Attendance: 125 (est.)