Collins’ OT score lifts Presque Isle Old Town foiled by late goal in regulation

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ORONO – Junior center Dylan Collins’ second goal of the game, coming with 5:16 left in overtime, gave the Presque Isle High School Wildcats a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win over Old Town in a high school hockey game Wednesday night at Alfond Arena.

Senior left wing Brandon Daigle had tied it while PI was shorthanded with 38 seconds left in regulation as he tipped Collins’ wrister from the high slot past Old Town goalie Dan LeBreton.

“I was screening the goalie and Dylan’s shot was about crossbar-high. I hit it down and it hit the ice and went past the goalie’s pad, glove-side,” said Daigle.

Old Town coach Brett Hale said the goal never should have happened.

“You figure since they had their best player in the penalty box [Greg Cyr], we had the advantage. We had just told them during Presque Isle’s timeout that we wanted just one forechecker to go into their zone. We wanted the other forwards back to support the defense. But they thought they could get the puck and three of them went in. That killed us,” said Hale, who also admitted Daigle made an exceptional deflection.

With just two seconds left in regulation, PI goalie Ethan Hill stopped Cody Cross’ breakaway.

Cross had beaten Hill on a breakaway in the second period.

“I saw it was the same guy and he went blocker side before, so I tried to cover the blocker side,” said Hill, who made the blocker save and then was aided by Parker Hovey, who cleared the loose puck out the crease.

PI (4-5-1) dominated overtime and Collins won it when Daigle dug out the puck behind the net and slid it to him in front. Collins made a quick move before sweeping the puck past the right skate of LeBreton.

The Wildcats, who snapped a three-game losing streak, have played six overtime games, going 4-1-1.

Both goalies were stellar as Hill finished with 23 saves and LeBreton made 30.

Old Town sophomore right wing Tyler Vandez and freshman left wing Cross scored 1:05 apart in the second period to give the Coyotes (2-7) a 2-1 lead after Collins had scored the only goal of the first period.

Vandez took the puck from Joe Doucette in the corner to the left of Hill, took a couple of strides without being confronted and snapped a wrister from the right circle that squirted through Hill’s pads. That came at the 6:57 mark of the period.

Cross’ goal was unassisted as he poked the puck past a Wildcat defenseman, broke in alone on Hill and flipped a 16-footer past Hill’s stick side.

LeBreton was sharp for the Coyotes as he made 13 saves in the second period, although his teammates did a nice job protecting the netfront and limiting second-chance opportunities as they did throughout the game.

Presque Isle dominated the first part of the first period, outshooting Old Town 6-2 before the Coyotes controlled play in the second portion to the tune of an 8-1 shots advantage thanks to three consecutive PI penalties.

Daigle set up Collins’ goal with a pinpoint pass from the corner to the left of LeBreton.

His initial pass was blocked, but the puck came back to him. He threaded the needle to the far post where the unattended Collins tapped it into the empty net past the helpless LeBreton.

Hill preserved the lead with several impressive stops, including back-to-back saves off Josh Hesseltine and Vandez following a faceoff.

He kicked out a Hesseltine wrister from the right circle a little later and, in the waning seconds of a 1:08 two-man advantage, he alertly closed his pads to keep a dangerous deflected puck out of his net.

“We really wanted this game. We didn’t want to lose another one,” said Daigle.

Presque Isle coach Carl Flynn felt his team played “sloppy. And we didn’t shoot enough.”

He also credited Hale for the great job he has done with the Old Town program in his first season.

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WILDCATS 3, COYOTES 2 (OT)

Presque Isle (4-5-1) 1 0 1 1 – 3

Old Town (2-7) 0 2 0 0 – 2

First period – 1. PI, Collins (Daigle), 4:09. Penalties: PI, Flanagin, holding, 8:16; PI, Hovey, interference, 11:35; PI, Martin, high-sticking, 12:27.

Second period – 2. OT, Vandez (Doucette), 6:57; 3. OT, Cross (unassisted), 8:02. Penalties: OT, Millett, interference, 3:44; PI, Cyr, unnecessary roughness, 8:14; OT, Nadeau, tripping, 10:29; PI, Martin, tripping, 11:37; OT, bench minor (served by Johnson), 13:22.

Third period – 4. PI, Daigle (Cyr), 14:22. Penalties: PI, Martin, 5-min. major, hitting from behind, and game disqualification, 3:35; OT, Madden, hooking, 6:28; OT, Millett, hooking, 7:36; OT, Nadeau, hooking, 9:47; PI, Cyr, interference and unsportsmanlike conduct, 10:36.

Overtime – 5. PI, Collins (Daigle), 2:44. Penalties: none.

Shots on goal: Presque Isle 7-13-11-2-33; Old Town 9-8-8-0-25

Goaltenders: Presque Isle, Hill (25 shots-23 saves); Old Town, LeBreton (33-30)

Power-play opportunities: Presque Isle 0 of 6, Old Town 0 of 8

Attendance: 125 (est.)