Black Hawks, Brewer reach EM final

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WINSLOW – Two teams seeking their first regional ice hockey championship will meet in Wednesday’s Eastern Maine Class B title game at Alfond Arena in Orono.

Second-seeded Houlton-Hodgdon defeated No. 3 Winslow 5-3 in the first of two semifinals Saturday at Sukee Arena, while top-ranked Brewer defeated No. 4 Orono 4-2 in the nightcap.

In the first game, Houlton-Hodgdon senior forward Ian Pasquarelli’s goal with 6:46 left in the third period served two purposes – restoring a Black Hawk lead and blunting Winslow’s momentum after the Black Raiders had scored the tying goal eight seconds earlier.

“He’s been a go-to guy since he was a freshman,” Houlton-Hodgdon coach Joel Trickey said. “He gets the goals and assists when we really need them.”

And the Black Hawks really needed Pasquarelli’s goal.

Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, Winslow managed to kill two Houlton-Hodgdon penalties and finally tied the game at 3-3 with 6:54 left in the third. Sean Bourgeois took a pass from Chad Guptill, moved around a Black Hawk defender, and beat Houlton-Hodgdon goalie Nick Joslyn.

Winslow had little time to celebrate its success. On the ensuing faceoff, Houlton-Hodgdon’s Chris McGuire passed to Pasquarelli, who streaked down the left-wing boards and bore down on Winslow goalie Devin Grenier.

“He shot and put it right up over my shoulder,” Grenier said.

The Black Raiders pulled Grenier in the final seconds for an extra attacker while pressing for a tying goal and managed to win a faceoff in their offensive zone with 23.9 seconds left when Houlton-Hodgdon iced the puck.

Morgan Hall’s empty-net goal with 16 seconds left clinched the game for the Black Hawks and secured their first regional final appearance.

“We’ve been here [semifinals] a few times,” Trickey said.

Defending regional champion Winslow (15-7) had the early momentum, building a 2-0 lead after one period and outshooting Houlton-Hodgdon 12-5. Trickey, though, told his team to relax and forget the two-goal deficit his team faced at the start of the second period.

“We had to keep playing our game and keep skating,” he said.

Josh McGuire’s even-strength goal 3:38 into the second period got the 17-4 Black Hawks on the scoreboard, converting a Pasquarelli pass.

The Black Hawks scored two power-play goals to take a 3-2 lead. Grady Anderson’s goal off a Josh McGuire pass with 4:55 left in the period tied the game, while Eben Thompson’s unassisted goal with 8.9 seconds left gave Houlton-Hodgdon the lead.

Grenier (28 saves) had to deal with a lot of traffic in front of his net, particularly during the second period, he said.

“The first three goals, I really couldn’t see,” Grenier said. “They did a good job.”

Winslow also spent most of the second period killing penalties, racking up 12 penalty minutes. At one point, three Winslow players were in the box at the same time.

“It wasn’t going our way,” Grenier said.

Josyln finished with 21 saves for Houlton-Hodgdon, including two key stops late in the third period to deny Winslow a tying goal. Houlton-Hodgdon outshot Winslow 33-24.

In the second game, Brewer scored three goals during a 1:46 span late in the first period to take a lead that stood up the rest of the way.

Zach Wilson opened the scoring spree with an unassisted goal with 4:32 left in the period, then teammate Ben Caldwell added an unassisted goal 1:24 later on a great individual effort.

With Orono’s Nathan Michaud literally on his back, Caldwell managed to keep control of the puck and slid it past Red Riot goalie Keith Hedrick.

Prentiss Swett capped the Brewer scoring blitz when he tipped home Matt Helfen’s shot from the point with 2:46 left in the period.

Orono (15-7) had its chances in the second and third periods to cut into the Brewer lead as the Witches were whistled for 24 penalty minutes. But the Brewer penalty-killing unit held firm.

“I give a lot of credit to [Brewer goalie Aaron] Saunders and the defense,” Orono coach Greg Hirsch said. “They controlled the rebounds.”

Orono finally broke through with 6:45 left in the third when Tony Raymond snuck a backhander past Saunders. Sean Babin and Brandon Paul were credited with assists.

Just 1:18 later, though, Swett scored his second goal of the game, converting a Zach Wilson pass,to restore Brewer’s three-goal lead at 4-1.

“That was the nail that we needed,” Brewer coach Steve Van Dolman said.

Babin’s goal (off a Raymond assist) with 4:29 left cut the lead to 4-2, but Orono was unable to get closer.

Saunders finished with 29 saves for 18-4 Brewer, while Hedrick finished with 28 saves for Orono.

“We didn’t stop playing,” Hirsch said.

Orono junior Kyle Weiland did play for the Red Riots, wearing a cast to protect his fractured wrist.