BREWER – Brewer High School sophomore goalie Eric White didn’t know what to expect from Wednesday’s important Class A game against Waterville at the T.J. Ryan Center.

“I struggled in warm-ups. I was getting beat everywhere,” said White.

But that’s the only time he got beat as he made 23 saves to key Brewer’s 3-0 victory.

Brewer, 5-1, won its fifth straight and avenged a 3-2 loss to Waterville.

Waterville, which was without two injured defensemen, fell to 4-2-1.

White, who has allowed just four goals in four starts with two shutouts, turned in a superb performance as the Purple Panthers had the better of the play and more scoring chances.

But Brewer was opportunistic, receiving a first-period goal from Evan Nadeau and third-period goals from Dylan Fitzpatrick and Mike Kotredes despite being held to just 15 shots on goal.

“Eric was phenomenal,” said senior center Kotredes, who also assisted on Nadeau’s first-period goal.

“He played pretty well. He’s a very good goalie,” said Waterville senior left wing Zach Jochem, who was the most dangerous player on the ice, generating a lot of chances only to be thwarted by White.

Jochem, who played junior hockey a year ago, had a golden opportunity to give his team a 1-0 lead 3:40 into the game when he cut through the slot and found himself in a one-on-one situation with White.

Jochem’s low wrister was headed to the five-hole but White got his stick on it.

“Making some early saves helped me out. It got my head into the game. I thought I played pretty well,” said White, who considered it his best game of the season.

White squared himself to the shooters all night and efficiently controlled rebounds.

“He kept us in the game,” said Fitzpatrick.

The Purple Panthers also missed the net several times.

“We’ve had trouble putting the puck in the net all year and their goalie did a [heck] of a job,” said Waterville coach Dennis Martin.

Brewer had few chances in the first period but capitalized with 1:33 remaining.

Prentiss Swett fed the puck to Kotredes, who raced down the right wing and snapped off a wrister that was kicked out by Nolan MacDonnell.

The rebound landed on Nadeau’s stick at the far post.

“I was getting blocked out but Mike made a smart low shot and the rebound came out to me. The goalie was sprawling,” said Nadeau, who put it short side for his first career goal.

After a scoreless second period, White made a terrific point-blank save early in the third period by squeezing his pads and Fitzpatrick scored just seconds later with a slap shot from the top of the left circle off a deflected pass by Swett.

“[MacDonnell] was leaning to the short side so I put it low to the far side,” said Fitzpatrick.

Kotredes iced it with a wrister from a difficult angle to MacDonnell’s left.

“I was looking to pass it but the man at the far post was covered so I decided to fire it on net and it went in the short side,” said Kotredes.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

990-8231

WITCHES 3, PURPLE PANTHERS 0

Waterville (4-2-1) 0 0 0 – 0

Brewer (5-1) 1 0 2 – 3

First period – 1. Brew, E. Nadeau (Kotredes, Swett), 13:27. Penalties: Brew, Clune, hooking, 7:21; Brew, Shedd, tripping, 10:59.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties: Brew, Coombs, roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct, 3:31; Wat, Leclair, slashing, 3:31; Wat, K. Bishop, interference, 7:59; Brew, Lopez, hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct, 9:53; Wat, Rowe, delay of game, 9:53; Wat, Leclair, hooking, 12:48.

Third period – 2. Brew, Fitzpatrick (Swett), 2:02; 3. Brew, Kotredes (Lopez), 8:42 (pp). Penalties: Wat, Jochem, interference, 8:27; Wat, Leclair, interference, 14:25.

Shots on goal: Waterville 8-8-7-23; Brewer 5-3-7-15

Goaltenders: Waterville, MacDonnell (15 shots-12 saves); Brewer, White (23-23)

Power-play opportunities: Waterville 0 of 4, Brewer 1 of 4

Attendance: 80 (est.)