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It was the perfect confluence of angles, opportunity, and vindication for the Brewer High School hockey team.
And when senior center Reid McLaughlin capped off that moment with a breakaway goal 2 minutes, 56 seconds into overtime at the Colisee on Saturday, the Witches had earned a 4-3 victory over Greely of Cumberland Center and the school’s first Class B hockey state championship.
“All year I’ve been thinking of this as a two-year journey,” said McLaughlin, a captain whose team lost to Cape Elizabeth 4-2 in a penalty-marred state final last year. “Last year was kind of the preseason. We got worked up to this point, got here, but didn’t play the way we wanted to. All this year we worked toward this and worked toward this again, and it’s a great feeling to finally be rewarded with a state championship.”
With the victory – Brewer’s 10th straight – the 21-3 Witches became the first Eastern Maine team to win the Class B title since Winslow claimed the prize in 2000.
“We definitely know what it feels like to be on Greely’s end,” said senior captain and defenseman Devin Fitzpatrick, who set up McLaughlin’s game-winner. “We were sitting in the locker room between the second and third [periods], and I looked over at Reid and I was saying ‘we can’t lose two in a row.’
“And we came out and did it. I think the seniors helped the younger guys through this game, but everyone had a big impact. It wasn’t just one or two guys; the whole team just played amazing.”
That depth of performance was required of the Witches, because Greely was virtually an equal both in talent and in hunger. The Rangers had lost for three consecutive years in the Western B championship game before breaking through with a 2-1 win over York in this year’s regional final.
“That was a great team,” said McLaughlin. “They wore us down. We were getting tired, and when we went into overtime, I thought, ‘Man, I hope that conditioning we’ve been working on all year pays off,’ and it did.”
The championship-winning goal came suddenly.
Greely was mounting an offensive foray and had cleared its offensive blue line when Fitzpatrick tipped the puck away from the Rangers’ Leland Copenhagen, gained control and lofted a long clearing pass high off the left-side boards toward Brewer’s offensive end.
“We had talked all week about using the high glass here at the Colisee because we don’t have high glass at T.J. Ryan [Center in Brewer, the Witches’ home ice],” said Brewer coach Bill Schwarz.
McLaughlin was behind Greely defensemen Drew Bowden and Kevin Hart near the blue line when the puck caromed right to his stick, leaving him with a breakaway bid on Greely goalie Billy Bolduc.
“I was really just trying to get the puck out of the zone,” said Fitzpatrick. “One of the things we were working on at the end of the game was just getting the puck to neutral ice. A lot of our forwards were waiting up high, so I figured if I could just get the puck off the glass we’d be able to get it down to their end.
“I looked up after the puck hit the ice and saw Reid breaking to the net. As soon as he touched the puck, I was lit up. I had a feeling he was going to put it away.”
McLaughlin carried the puck in, made one quick fake, then shot high over Bolduc’s stick-side shoulder for his 35th goal of the season, igniting a celebration two years in the making.
“Devin corralled the puck and chipped it high off the glass,” said McLaughlin. “I just saw it coming out and I saw their defensemen coming back for it. I didn’t see the puck much in the air. I just anticipated, picked it up and put it on my backhand. I faked a little shot, [Bolduc] went for it and tried to poke-check, and I just put it over his right shoulder top corner.
“I’ve been doing that all year, I probably would have killed myself if I didn’t score that goal. I don’t know what to say. It feels amazing.”
Brewer finished with a 28-22 edge in shots on goal, with Witches senior Aaron Saunders making 19 saves while Bolduc stopped 24 shots.
“Those are two really even teams, with slightly different strengths,” said Greely coach Barry Mothes. “I think the fact it went to overtime, anyone who watched this whole game would think on any given day that these guys could play 100 times it would be 51-49. I think we’re very even.
“I feel like we had a lot of pressure in the offensive zone, but it didn’t always translate into the kind of shooting opportunities I would have liked to have seen.”
Greely (17-5) had the first two shots of this match, thanks to two early penalties against Brewer that offered a flashback to a year ago, when the Witches were beset by 19 penalties in their state-championship game loss.
But instead of getting down on themselves, this time the Witches settled down by themselves, using their physical strength to offset Greely’s team speed.
Ultimately, Brewer scored the game’s first power-play goal, a shot by Fitzpatrick from the left point 15 seconds into the second period that gave the Witches a 1-0 lead.
“We set up the power play, and I was on point, and it just got fed out and I was going to pass to Davey Perry on the left side,” said Fitzpatrick. “But I saw an opening and I couldn’t see the goalie, so I knew he was being screened so I let it go and it went in.”
Sophomore Dylan Fitzpatrick, Devin’s brother, quickly made it 2-0 with his 34th goal of the season on a shot from the top of the circle. Greely was trying to clear the area, but Brewer’s Mike Kotredes prevented that, gaining control of the puck and passing it to Ryan Nadeau, who found Fitzpatrick open on the wing at 4:47.
But as quickly as Brewer took control of this game, Greely took it back.
Senior winger Harrison Sheldon – who began the day with five goals in two previous postseason games this season – scored twice in a 65-second span to tie the match.
First, Sheldon converted on the rebound of his own shot at 6:31 to make it 2-1. Then Greely’s leading scorer put the puck between the legs of one Brewer defender at the blue line before shooting it between Saunders’ legs for his 31st goal of the season at 7:36 to make it 2-2.
The Rangers weren’t done, as Copenhagen scored on a power play at 10:51 to give Greely its first and only lead. The junior winger worked the puck behind the Brewer goal, then brought it out for a close-range backhanded shot that Saunders blocked. But as Copenhagen crossed the goal crease, the puck came right back to him. He scored on the rebound amid a scramble in front of the net.
This time it was Brewer that needed to regain control.
“We got a little nervous,” said Fitzpatrick. “Even watching the game you could see we were running around a little bit. We came to the bench, talked a little and regrouped, and said if we could just go back to playing our game we’d be fine.”
First, there was one more penalty to overcome, an interference call against Devin Fitzpatrick at 12:23. Brewer ultimately had the best scoring bid during that two-minute span, a 2-on-1 with Matt Helfen setting up Dylan Fitzpatrick for a shot requiring a big save by Bolduc, but just surviving the shorthanded situation was a momentum-boosting experience for the Witches.
“Killing that one off was big,” said McLaughlin, “because we knew being down one goal going into the third we could do it. Two goals down, and it was going to take a lot of extra chances and probably they’d get a couple odd-man rushes.”
Brewer scored the equalizer at 7:11 of the third period, with Kotredes scoring his 16th goal of the year on a rebound. Perry took the initial shot from the point, and Bolduc also blocked McLaughlin’s rebound bid from the right of the crease before Kotredes scored from the left side of the net past the prone Greely goalie.
“We’ve been behind a lot this year,” said Schwarz, “but they’ve always come back, and they did it again today. They willed themselves to do this.”
WITCHES 4, RANGERS 3 (OT)
Greely (17-5) 0 3 0 0 – 3
Brewer (21-3) 0 2 1 1 – 4
First period – No scoring. Penalties: Brewer, De. Fitzpatrick, tripping, 1:11; Brewer, Ambrose, tripping, 3:34; Greely, Bowden, roughing, 7:57; Greely, Sheldon, tripping, 14:34.
Second period – 1. Brewer, De. Fitzpatrick (Ambrose, McLaughlin), 0:15 (pp); 2. Brewer, Dy. Fitzpatrick (Nadeau, Kotredes), 4:47; 3. Greely, Sheldon (unassisted), 6:31; 4. Greely, Sheldon (Bowden), 7:36; 5. Greely, Copenhagen (Sheldon), 10:51 (pp). Penalties: Brewer, Dy. Fitzpatrick, roughing, 9:40; Brewer, De. Fitzpatrick, interference, 12:23.
Third period – 6. Brewer, Kotredes (McLaughlin, Perry), 7:11. Penalties: Greely, Copenhagen, unsportsmanlike conduct, 6:37; Brewer, Saunders, unsportsmanlike conduct, 6:37; Greely, Smith-Vaughan, high sticking, 7:44.
Overtime – 7. Brewer, McLaughlin (De. Fitzpatrick), 2:56.
Shots on goal: Brewer 5-10-11-2-28; Greely 4-8-8-2-22
Goaltenders: Brewer, Saunders (22 shots-19 saves); Greely, Bolduc (28-24)
Power-play opportunities: Brewer 1 of 3; Greely 1 of 4
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