Orono, Winslow reach title contest

WINSLOW – Orono will have a chance to avenge two regular-season losses to Winslow when the teams meet Wednesday night for the Eastern Maine Class B ice hockey championship.

Second-seeded Orono edged No. 3 Hampden Academy 4-3 in a semifinal Saturday night at Sukee Arena. Earlier in the day, top seed Winslow defeated No. 4 Houlton-Hodgdon 5-1. The regional final will be played at 7 p.m. at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena.

“It’s a big rivalry,” Orono coach Greg Hirsch said. “They’ve beaten us twice this season. They’re psyched to play us; we’re psyched to play them. It should be a close battle.”

In the second game, the Riots came out firing in the second period, scoring three goals in the first six minutes.

“I’ve gotten used to this team,” said Hirsch, whose team was tied with Hampden 1-1 after one period. “I didn’t have to say too much. It was a matter of settling down and doing what we do best.”

Sean Babin’s wraparound goal 1:30 into the second period gave Orono a 2-1 lead. Only 20 seconds later, Jacob Roeder took a pass from John Tuell and beat Hampden goalie Rory Woods to give the Red Riots a 3-1 lead, prompting Hampden coach Bill Schwarz to call a timeout.

“I tried to call a timeout to stop the bleeding,” he said.

Roeder’s second goal of the period, a power-play goal with 8:16 left, increased the Orono lead to 4-1. Travis Bryant’s initial shot was stopped by Woods, then Tuell whacked at the rebound before Roeder tapped the puck into the net.

“That was huge,” Hirsch said of Roeder’s second goal. “I thought we had to have four [goals] to have a shot to win.”

The Broncos closed the gap to 4-2 on a Chris Pease goal with 2:54 left in the second, as Pease beat Orono goalie Jared Bussell through the five hole.

The Broncos gained momentum when they scored a power-play goal 4:47 into the third period, reducing the margin to 4-3. Jason Huntley won the faceoff and drew the puck back to Dan Mangano, who drilled a slapshot past Bussell with just three seconds left on the man advantage.

Hampden had a chance to tie the game when Tuell was called for a hooking penalty with 8:50 left in the third. But Bussell stood tall, making three important saves during the Broncos’ power play.

“We just couldn’t get the tying goal,” Schwarz said.

Raymond opened the scoring with a power-play goal with 2:21 left in the opening period, converting a Roeder assist.

“We were fortunate to get a goal in that period,” Hirsch said.

Hampden tied the game 13 seconds later, when Nick Beal scored off his own rebound after winning a faceoff in the Orono zone.

Bussell finished with 21 saves for 17-3-1 Orono,. Woods made 18 saves for Hampden, which wound up 15-6-1.

In the opener, Winslow’s Jon Lizotte scored two first-period goals to get the Black Raiders off to a good start.

His first goal came after Houlton-Hodgdon created a flurry of scoring chances and earned a power play when Winslow’s Dan Bickford was called for boarding with 6:37 left in the period.

After a Houlton-Hodgdon shot sailed wide of the net, Lizotte pounced on the loose puck, rushed down uncontested and beat Houlton-Hodgdon goalie Nic Joslyn with 5:51 left in the first for a shorthanded goal.

“We were all right,” Winslow coach Don Skillings said. “We just had to settle down. We needed to get our legs under us.”

Lizotte’s second goal came 1:35 later when he poked home a rebound that gave Winslow a 2-0 lead.

Sharif Abouleish’s goal with 11:40 left in the second cut the margin to 2-1 and gave Houlton-Hodgdon life, but Winslow responded with two goals to push the lead to three (4-1) after two periods.

“We’ve had the answer most of the year,” Skillings said.

Zach Cioppa tipped in Nate Pelletier’s shot with 9:58 left in the second to give Winslow a 3-1 lead. Jacob Ellis scored a power-play goal 3:10 later to give the Black Raiders a comfortable 4-1 lead.

Andy Wheeler’s power-play goal with 7:09 left in the match closed the scoring for Winslow, now 16-4-1 after playing their first game in two weeks. Goalie Devon Grenier made 19 saves.

Joslyn finished with 28 saves for 12-6-2 Houlton-Hodgdon.