Experienced Raiders stop Black Hawks

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WINSLOW – The top-seeded Winslow Black Raiders overcame themselves and the fifth-seeded Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks to post an impressive 4-2 victory in Monday’s Eastern Maine Class B hockey semifinal at Sukee Arena.

After taking six straight penalties, resulting in two power-play goals for Houlton-Hodgdon in the second period, the Raiders received early third-period goals 2:25 apart from senior center Sean Bourgeois and senior right wing Jesse Cullivan to snap a 2-2 tie.

The Black Raiders then stifled the Black Hawks the rest of the way, not allowing a shot on goal while generating 10 themselves.

Winslow, 15-5-1, advances to tonight’s final at Alfond Arena in Orono at 7 No. 3 Gardiner.

The No. 5 Black Hawks finished at 12-10.

The senior- and junior-laden Black Raiders outshot the youthful Black Hawks 39-11 and controlled the play.

Houlton-Hodgdon had eight freshmen and five sophomores on its roster along with two seniors and five juniors.

Winslow had eight seniors, four juniors and six sophomores. There weren’t any freshmen.

Bourgeois’ second goal of the game came on the power play at the 1:03 mark of the third period and was set up by defenseman Matt Loubier, who made a waist-high diagonal pass to Bourgeois as he skated across the middle of the slot.

“[Loubier] had to make a saucer pass because there was so much traffic,” said Bourgeois. “I caught it in my glove, put it down on my stick and shot it. It went five-hole.”

“He had a quick release on it and it went under my stick,” said H-H freshman goalie Malik Abouleish, who turned in an impressive 35-save performance.

Cullivan extended the lead by coming out of the corner to the left of Abouleish and snapping an angled shot over his glove and into the short-side corner from 12 feet out.

“I was able to get around a defenseman and saw a little space in the corner,” said Cullivan. “The goalie dropped down and I put it upstairs.”

A Black Hawk defenseman had lost his stick which helped Cullivan get around him.

“He only had three or four inches above my glove. He sniped that one,” said Abouleish.

“That goal deflated some of our guys but I think it helped Winslow more than it hurt us,” said H-H coach Joel Trickey. “Our inexperience showed in the third period. We couldn’t get anything going.”

“This wasn’t one of our better games,” said H-H junior center Morgan Hall. “Winslow played a lot better in the third period than I thought they would.”

He added the Black Raiders won most of the battles for the puck.

“They deserved the game,” said Hall. “They’re a good, solid team.”

Winslow coach Corey Lessard said his team played “with the best intensity I’ve seen all year.”

Bourgeois said the team addressed the penalty issue after the second period and the Raiders took just two penalties in the third period.

The Black Hawks capitalized on Winslow’s lack of discipline in the second period to tie it 2-2 after the Raiders had extended its lead to 2-0 on Jeffrey LaFrance’s 4-on-4 goal at the 7:32 mark.

Power-play goals 3:18 apart by Taylor Martin and Zach Chase knotted it up as Winslow took six consecutive penalties during a span of 5:41.

Bourgeois had staked Winslow to a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period.

LaFrance scored when he carried the puck into the Houlton-Hodgdon zone and wristed a 50-footer a few feet off the ice that beat Abouleish over his pad and under his blocker.

But Martin cut the lead in half with a rush down the left wing and a 10-foot wrist shot that snuck between goalie Jesse Little’s right skate and the short-side post.

Martin appeared as though he was going to carry the puck around the net but, instead, he caught the goalie by surprise with his wrister.

Chase tied it with a wraparound that rolled off his stick and nestled inside the short- side post.

Bourgeois scored on the game’s first shot as he corralled the loose puck in the corner to the right of Abouleish, cut across the low slot just beyond the crease and shoveled a backhander under the goalie’s glove into the far corner before a Houlton-Hodgdon defenseman could confront him.

The Black Raiders had a wide edge in territorial play and outshot the Black Hawks 18-4 in the period but Abouleish made some solid saves and his mates did a commendable job limiting the Raiders to one shot by bubbling in front of the net and chipping the puck out of danger.

Houlton-Hodgdon had a couple promising rushes including a 4-on-1 with 4:50 left, only to have speedy right wing Morgan Hall’s 17-foot wrister ring off the crossbar.

Little finished with nine saves.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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