Brewer, Bapst, Black Hawks face stiff tests Semifinals moved to Monday

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The Brewer High School Witches, the John Bapst High School Crusaders and the Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks are seeking Eastern Maine hockey championship game berths.

But they will have their hands full with central Maine rivals Monday.

Defending state Class B champ Brewer, 17-4 and the second seed in Class A, faces No. 3 Waterville, 13-7-1, in the 5 p.m. EM Class A semifinal at the Colisee in Lewiston while top seed Lewiston, 17-3-1, faces fourth seed Lawrence of Fairfield, 13-7-1, in the 9 p.m. semifinal.

In the Class B semis at Sukee Arena in Winslow, No. 5 Houlton-Hodgdon (12-9) meets top seed Winslow (14-5-1) at 5 p.m. with No. 2 John Bapst of Bangor (14-5-1) taking on No. 3 Gardiner (13-5-2) in the 8 p.m. contest.

In Class A, Brewer will have to find a way to neutralize Waterville’s high-powered line of John Massey (10 goals, 18 assists) between Zach Jochem (10 & 17) and Ian Rowe (12 & 8) while finding ways to create problems for Panthers goalie Nolan MacDonnell.

“We’ve got to get the puck deep, we’ve got to get shots and we have to protect [goalie Eric White] in front of our net. We’ve got to make sure they don’t get two, three or four shots [in a flurry],” said Brewer coach Bill Schwarz. “If we do that, we’ll be in good shape.”

Brewer has the most productive line in Class A in center Dylan Fitzpatrick (33 & 29), Class A’s leading scorer, between Ryan Nadeau (16 & 27) and Nick Risser (21 & 18).

“I’m not going to try to match lines with them,” said Schwarz. “I want to make them do what I want to do. Our second line [Mike Kotredes between Evan Nadeau and Tyler Coombs] can play with anybody’s line.”

Kotredes has 9 & 6, Coombs has 7 & 6 and Nadeau has 2 & 7.

Schwarz added that his forwards are going to have to be careful with the puck because Waterville is such a good transition team.

“We can’t dangle with the puck in the neutral zone or at the blue line. Turnovers will kill you,” said Schwarz. “And we’ll need to play well in our own end. We’ve got to keep them to the perimeter.”

The teams split regular-season games.

Prentiss Swett (9 & 14) continues to lead the defense corps after being moved back from forward at the outset of the season.

“He has made a big difference back there. He has helped us a lot. He’s an unselfish hockey player,” said Schwarz.

White has a 13-4 record, a 1.94 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage after making 28 saves in the 2-1 quarterfinal win over Brunswick.

Shawn Lee (6 & 9) heads up the Panthers defense corps in front of MacDonnell.

In Class B, John Bapst is seeking its first appearance in an Eastern B championship game but will take on a quality Gardiner team it split with during the regular season.

“We’ve got to play well in the defensive zone and the neutral zone,” said John Bapst coach Aaron King. “They have great forwards and we’re going to have to slow them down.

“They’re always looking to attack so we’ve told our kids they’re going to have to commit to defense and take offensive chances when we get them,” added King.

Gardiner coach Matt Dineen said the two teams are very similar.

“Bapst will work hard. They’ll play with self-discipline and they are intense about their business,” said Dineen. “It’s going to be a battle.”

They split regular-season games.

John Bapst is led by the line of Casey Hull (36 points), Andrew Casey (19) and Neil LaFrance (15 points) with linemates Connor Scofield (20) and Nikki Mitchell (19) also having noteworthy season. Chase Huckestein, Tyler Fadrigon and Matt Duplisea have headlined the blue line corps in front of goalie Derek Duff.

Gardiner is led by center Klinton Peckham (53 points), Bass Chadwick (41) and Zoe Fisk (31) along with Pete Caradonna (29) and Kevin May (26). The defense corps features Forrest Chadwick (19) and Bobby Johnson (12). Chris Howe has allowed just two goals a game in net.

Houlton-Hodgdon coach Joel Trickey is hoping for a fast-paced game against a Winslow, a team with which it split.

“Our kids don’t play well unless they’re skating,” said Trickey whose Black Hawks are led by center Craig Buxton (20 & 12), LW Mike Epley (12 & 13) and RW Morgan Hall (10 & 8). Trickey feels he has the best defenseman in Class B in Zach Chase (3 & 20), the team’s captain and leader, and Malik Abouleish has had an impressive freshman season (2.04 goals-against average, .910 save percentage).

Winslow is led by snipers Sean Bourgeois and Chad Guptill, and Ben Grant along with defenseman Derek Lizotte. Bourgeois and Guptill both missed the 5-4 KVAC championship game loss to Gardiner.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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