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BREWER – With a second overtime looming, a bouncing puck wound up on the right stick for the Hampden Academy Broncos: the one belonging to leading goal scorer Chris Pease.
And the senior right wing converted on a breakaway with 21 seconds left in the first OT to give the third-seeded Broncos a 2-1 Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal win over No. 6 Gardiner at the T.J. Ryan Center Monday night.
The Broncos, now 15-5-1, will take on No. 2 Orono, a 5-2 winner over Kents Hill, in Saturday’s semifinal at Sukee Arena in Winslow. No. 4 Houlton-Hodgdon, 12-5-2 and a 3-1 victor over Presque Isle, will face top seed Winslow (15-4-1), which received a bye.
HA’s Jason Huntley won a faceoff in the defensive zone to Cory Morin and he passed it back to Huntley.
“I flung it up to Pease and he got a lucky break I guess,” said Huntley.
“It bounced off a [Gardiner] foot, I picked it up, fought through a guy and made a move,” said Pease whose goal was his 17th of the season. “I saw the goalie [Spenser Lahaie] hugging the blocker post, I made a move to the blocker and put it glove [side].”
Lahaie said, “It happened so quick. I think he went under my arm with it.”
Senior Lahaie was the only reason the game even reached overtime as he stopped 37 shots in the second and third periods alone en route to an exceptional 46-save performance.
“I was dead at the end of overtime. I was lightheaded,” said Lahaie, who was selected the EM Class B first-team goalie. “I was happy with the way I played but this was my last game and that’s what makes it hard.”
Ironically, Pease’s shot was the only one the Broncos mustered in overtime as the Tigers, who were outshot 47-14 during regulation, buzzed the HA net in overtime only to be thwarted by HA senior goalie Rory Woods and his goalposts.
Ben Kramer hit the crossbar from the middle of the slot on the first shift of overtime and Travis McGuire hit the far post on a breakaway just before Pease ended it.
“I deked [faked] the goalie but it hit the post and came back out. I should have beaten him. It was bad luck,” said McGuire, who sliced across the top of the crease from left to right.
“I owe a lot to the posts,” said Woods who made four of his 17 saves in overtime.
HA junior defenseman Paul Morrison opened the scoring 2:40 into the game but freshman left wing Bass Chadwick, Gardiner’s leading scorer, equalized 11:20 later.
Morrison cruised into the left circle, accepted a pass from Adam Nason, and beat Lahaie with a wrister to the short side.
“That woke me up a little,” said Lahaie who stopped 24 second-period shots as his Tigers were outshot 24-2.
“He stood on his head in the second period,” said Pease whose Broncos avenged a first-round loss to Gardiner last season. Gardiner had a win and tie against HA earlier this season.
Gardiner answered with a strange goal as Cody Jean won a faceoff outside the offensive zone to Chadwick, who flipped the puck high toward the net where it was misplayed by Woods and deflected into the net.
“It hit off my pad and arm. I didn’t really see it,” said Woods.
There were no penalties in the game.
Gardiner finished at 8-10-1.
BRONCOS 2, TIGERS 1 (OT)
Gardiner (8-10-1) 1 0 0 0 – 1
Hampden (15-5-1) 1 0 0 1 – 2
First period – 1. HA, Morrison (Nason), 2:40; 2. Gar, Chadwick (Jean), 14:00. Penalties: none
Second period – No scoring. Penalties: none
Third period – No scoring. Penalties: none
Overtime – 3. HA, Pease (Huntley, Morin), 7:39. Penalties: none
Shots on goal: Gardiner 9-2-3-4-18; HA 10-24-13-1-48
Goaltenders: Gardiner, Lahaie (48 shots-46 saves); HA, Woods (18-17)
Power-play opportunities: none
Attendance: 250 (est.)
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