Paul rush secures Riot upset of Rams ‘B’ Orono tops ‘A’ Bangor

loading...

ORONO – Somebody on the Bangor High School hockey team made a mistake by angering Orono High sophomore left wing Brandon Paul.

So Paul capped a scintillating rush by scoring an early third-period goal just 1:21 after Dave Pardilla had cut Orono’s lead to 2-1 and the Class B Riots went on to post an impressive 4-1 triumph over the Class A Rams at Alfond Arena.

“This was, by far, our best game of the season,” said Orono coach Greg Hirsch. “We talked about winning the one-on-one battles and being aggressive, and they executed.”

Senior goalie Jared Bussell was sharp for the Riots (10-2-1), making 31 saves. He also assisted on Paul’s goal by tapping it to him behind the net.

The speedy Paul had open ice until the offensive blue line, then sailed around a Ram defenseman before snapping a 20-footer between the pads of Bangor goalie Andrew Riley.

“One of their guys hit me with his stick, so I got a little mad and took the puck and went,” said Paul. “I saw that the five-hole was wide open, so I shot for that and it went in.”

Riley said, “That was totally my fault. It went right under my pad. I didn’t have my stick on the ice or anything. It went right under me.”

“That goal was huge,” said Bussell.

Riley finished with 23 saves for the 6-4-1 Rams but had many more difficult saves than Bussell and kept his team close with several gems.

The Riots were a step quicker than the Rams throughout and were much more physical and tenacious, which created turnovers.

They won most of the loose pucks and were very efficient clearing pucks in front of their net.

“We couldn’t stop their speed. They exploded. They wanted [to win] way more than we did,” said Bangor senior center and co-captain Matt Boehmer.

“They’ve a very fast team and a very good passing team. Everything clicked for them tonight. They went right by us,” agreed Riley.

Junior defenseman Mark Cloutier and senior right wing Chris McConnon staked Orono to a 2-0 lead with goals 4:01 apart in the first period.

Nathan Curtis added an empty-netter.

Cloutier opened the scoring when his own rebound glanced off him and into the net. Riley had made a great pad stop on his initial shot, which was set up by a Nathan Curtis pass.

“He made a real, real nice save. The second one bounced off me. I don’t know what it hit. I was tied up,” said Cloutier. “It was real lucky.”

McConnon converted a breakaway after coming out of the penalty box and pouncing on a Dan Ohno clearout.

“I had anticipated that happening,” said McConnon. “When I went in, I dropped my shoulder to freeze [Riley] him and whipped my stick around and put it in the far side.”

After a scoreless second period dominated by the goalies, Pardilla scored just 21 seconds into the final period by taking a Jake Silver pass, slicing right to left across the low slot and snapping an 18-footer through Bussell’s right arm.

But Paul answered swiftly and the Rams never recovered.

RED RIOTS 4, RAMS 1

Bangor (6-4-1) 0 0 1 – 1

Orono (10-2-1) 2 0 2 – 4

First period – 1. Or, Cloutier (unassisted), 3:56; 2. Or, McConnon (Ohno), 7:57. Penalties: Ban, Whitney, interference, 2:38; Or, Raymond, boarding, 2:46; Or, McConnon, interference, 5:48; Or, Curtis, hitting from behind,10-minute misconduct, 10:52; Ban, Whitney, tripping, 12:40.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties: Or, Evinger, contact to the head-roughing, 4:08; Ban, Dionne, tripping, 7:59; Or, Evinger, hitting from behind, 10-minute misconduct, 13:05.

Third period – 3. Ban, Pardilla (Silver) :21; 4. Or, Paul (Bussell), 1:42; 5. Or, Curtis (unassisted), 14:56 (en). Penalties: Ban, Hyatt, elbowing, 1:01.

Shots on goal: Bangor 10-10-12-32; Orono 13-6-8-27

Goaltenders: Bangor, Riley (26 shots-23 saves); Orono, Bussell (32-31)

Power-play opportunities: Bangor 0 of 5, Orono 1 of 4

Attendance: 400 (est.)