Witches stop archrival Rams Fitzpatrick, Risser tally for Brewer

loading...

BANGOR – The Brewer High hockey team rebounded from its first two-game losing streak of the season Tuesday night to defeat rival Bangor.

State Class A scoring leader Dylan Fitzpatrick had a pair of second-period goals, his linemates Nick Risser and Ryan Nadeau combined for a goal and three assists and sophomore goalie Eric White made 22 saves as the Witches triumphed 3-1 at Sawyer Arena.

“This was definitely a crucial win after losing two in a row,” said junior center Fitzpatrick, whose goals were his 28th and 29th. He now has 52 points.

Risser scored his 19th goal in the first period, and Nadeau assisted on all three goals.

Christian Dionne ruined White’s shutout bid with 5:42 remaining, but White made some timely stops down the stretch for 14-4 Brewer.

White and Bangor goalie Andrew Riley (30 saves) were both superb in the fast-paced affair in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.

Both teams generated a lot of high-percentage chances only to be stymied time and time again. Brewer had the better chances through the first two periods before Bangor (7-9) stormed the Witch net in the third.

White served notice he was on top of his game in the opening moments, stopping Joey Seccareccia’s 25-foot wrist shot, then making a terrific right pad save off Phil Frost’s point-blank rebound.

Seconds later, Bangor’s Johnny Warren had a breakaway only to lose the puck as he prepared to shoot.

Risser scored 6:49 into the period on a breakaway after a Ram defenseman fell down at his defensive blue line.

“I saw [Riley] was pretty far out, so I thought my [fakes] would work. I got him going one way and I went the other,” said Risser, who tucked it inside the post to Riley’s left.

“It happened so fast. We turned it over at the blue line. I didn’t have time to get set, and he made an amazing move,” said Riley.

Fitzpatrick made it 2-0 6:18 into the second period when his rising wrister off a Nadeau faceoff draw back to him found the short-side corner.

“I had tried to beat him to the blocker side twice and he stopped them, so I thought I’d try the glove side,” said Fitzpatrick.

“Everything cleared out. I threw my glove up and it glanced in off the top of my glove,” said Riley.

Fitzpatrick’s next one came 2:41 later on the power play when he positioned himself in the circle to Riley’s left and one-timed a diagonal pass from Prentiss Swett into the short-side corner.

“I like to put it short side. I knew [Riley] would be coming over, but I got the shot off quickly,” said Fitzpatrick.

“I knew where he was going with it, but he’s so accurate. He put it in almost the same place as his first one,” said Riley.

Dionne made things interesting when he jammed home a Warren feed from a crowded goalmouth, but White shut the door after that.

“I thought I played pretty well. I controlled my rebounds well,” said White.

“He shut us down early in each period and that killed our momentum,” said Riley.

WITCHES 3, RAMS 1

Brewer (14-4) 1 2 0 – 3

Bangor (7-9) 0 0 1 – 1

First period – 1. Brew, Risser 19 (R. Nadeau), 6:49. Penalties: Brew, Lopez, cross checking, 2:51.

Second period – 2. Brew, Fitzpatrick 28 (R. Nadeau), 6:18; 3. Brew, Fitzpatrick 29 (R. Nadeau, Swett), 8:59 (pp). Penalties: Ban, George, interference, :53; Ban, Pardilla, interference, 7:07; Brew, Coombs, interference, 10:01.

Third period – 4. Ban, Dionne 5 (Warren), 9:08. Penalties: Brew, Risser, contact to the head-roughing, 1:18; Brew, Kotredes, hooking, 4:53; Brew, Coombs, roughing, 10:36; Ban, C. Kelley, charging, 13:52.

Shots on goal: Brewer 13-15-5-33; Bangor 6-5-12-23

Goaltenders: Brewer, White (23 shots-22 saves); Bangor, Riley (33-30)

Power-play opportunities: Brewer1 of 3; Bangor 0 of 5

Attendance: 250 (est.)