BANGOR – Christian Dionne said he didn’t get much of his stick on the puck. But it was enough.

Bangor High School’s junior right wing swatted the puck out of the air and into the net at the 10:07 mark of the first period and that was the game’s only goal as the third-seeded Rams nipped Messalonskee of Oakland in a fast-paced and scintillating Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal at Sawyer Arena Tuesday night.

The 13-7-1 Rams will face the winner of Wednesday’s Cony-Waterville game in Saturday’s semifinals at The Colisee in Lewiston. Sixth seed Messalonskee wound up 11-10.

Bangor junior goalie Andrew Riley and Messalonskee senior Michael Hachey dueled brilliantly. Riley finished with 18 saves and Hachey stopped 19 with each coming up with several gems.

“Both goalies were terrific,” said Messalonskee coach Mike Latendresse. “I thought we had the better opportunities.”

On the goal, which occurred on a Ram power play, Hachey made a nice initial save on Matt Boehmer’s snap shot from the high slot and then made an even better stop on David Pardilla’s followup attempt as he kicked it high in the air.

“I had to wait for it to come down. It was waist-high and I just got a corner of my stick on it,” said Dionne, whose goal was his 13th of the season.

The helpless Hachey was sprawled on the ice.

The Eagles were energized by dynamic junior left wing Matt DelGiudice, who was playing his fourth game after missing nearly two months with a broken collarbone.

DelGiudice was involved in several glittering opportunities only to see Riley keep the puck out of the net.

“Riley’s a great goalie. He came to play tonight and we got an unlucky bounce,” said DelGiudice.

It was DelGiudice’s menacing third-period backhander from the inner half of the right circle that produced their best scoring chance.

Riley made a last-second pad save but the rebound sat in the crease with Garrett Mosher about to swat it home to tie it up.

However, Bangor senior defenseman Jake Silver saved the day.

“I swung my stick at it,” said Silver, who swiped it out of danger.

DelGiudice set up Brett Glasheen perfectly for a point-blank one-timer with three minutes left in regulation but Riley slid over and made a game-saving stop.

Riley said DelGiudice was being tied up by a Ram defenseman so he anticipated the pass going across to Glasheen, who was driving to the net to Riley’s left.

“I was already in my butterfly and I slid over and just tried to stay tight,” said Riley, who absorbed the shot in his chest and mask.

Seconds later, Hachey made an exceptional reactionary save on the re-direction of a Silver point shot to keep his team within a goal.

The Eagles went on a power play with 1:33 left and pulled Hachey in favor of an extra attacker but the Rams did a nice job clogging the shooting and passing lanes and defensman Joel Whitney blocked a shot with eight seconds left to help the Rams survive.

The first period featured several bone-rattling checks and Hachey made three rapid-fire saves on the first of three Ram power play opportunities.

He first kicked out a Jon Hyatt wrister and then smothered two point-blank whacks by John Warren.

Bangor had a definite edge in play in the first period and outshot the Eagles 11-6. But Hachey was razor-sharp.

“He proved he’s one of the best goalies in the state,” said Latendresse.

Riley was temporarily shaken up when the Eagles drove the net and collided with him. But he stayed in the game.

Riley said the Eagles were trying to disrupt “my focus.

“But I stayed focused,” said Riley.

The teams battled on even terms over the last two periods but the goalies stood tall and their mates did an impressive job back-checking and clearing rebounds.

RAMS 1, EAGLES 0

Messalonskee (11-10) 0 0 0 – 0

Bangor (13-7-1) 1 0 0 – 1

First period – 1. Ban, Dionne (Pardilla), 10:07 (pp). Penalties: Mess, Mosher, contact to the head-cross checking, :56; Mess, too many men on the ice (served by MacKenzie), 4:37; Mess, Mosher, roughing, 8:47; Mess, J. Lawler, roughing, 10:20; Bangor, George, roughing, 10:20.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties: Ban, Pardilla, contact to the head-roughing, 7:05; Ban, Warren, interference, 14:04; Mess, J. Lawler, high sticking, 14:04; Ban, George, roughing, 15:00; Mess, Glasheen, roughing, 15:00.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties: Mess, Berard, cross checking, 1:30; Mess, J. Lawler, contact to the head-roughing, 2:17; Ban, Dionne, slashing, 6:31; Mess, J. Lawler, tripping, 11:21; Ban, Boehmer, roughing and slashing, 13:27.

Shots on goal: Mess 6-5-7-18; Ban 11-4-5-20

Goaltenders: Mess, Hachey (20 shots-19 saves); Ban, Riley (18-18)

Power-play opportunities: Mess 0-3, Ban 1-6

Attendance: 400 (est.)