LEWISTON — Top-seeded Kennebunk got goals from five players Friday night in a 6-3 win over No. 5 Cape Elizabeth in a Western Class B boys’ hockey semifinal at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

The Rams, whose only state championship was in Class C in 1984, will play Gorham for the regional title at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Colisee. Kennebunk scored the final three goals after Cape Elizabeth tied the game early in the third period.

“None of our goals were really beautiful set-up goals,” Kennebunk Coach Sean Smith said. “(They were) grind-it-out, work-hard team goals. It’s great when we play like that, really move the puck and play everybody.”

It was Kennebunk’s third win of the season over the Capers.

“We definitely took advantage of our opportunities tonight,” Smith said. “Honestly, we were little a sloppy throughout the game, but we were able to capitalize on our opportunities and that made all the difference.”

The Rams (15-2-2) took a 2-0 lead when Bo Beveridge scored twice less in the first five minutes of the second period.

Advertisement

Barely a minute in, Beveridge finished off a three-on-two rush with a shot from the right circle. Three minutes later, he hustled to poke a loose puck into the net after goalie Grant Rusk stopped a shot by Gavin Baumier.

Cape Elizabeth (10-9-1) cut into the deficit when Alex Glidden tipped in Cole Caswell’s rising shot from center point, about a minute after Beveridge was sent off for interference. But Brenden Whitten quickly answered, flipping the puck in from the slot to make it 3-1 after he intercepted a clearing pass just below the left hash mark.

“Our strength all year has been our defense (and) how we play defense as a unit,” Cape Elizabeth Coach Matt Buotte said. “We let ourselves down tonight. We gave them cheap goals. We made a lot of bad decisions. It was very uncharacteristic.”

The Capers closed to within 3-2 late in the second when Jack Drinan fired in a shot from the top of the slot. Drinan then tied the game on a rebound 21 seconds into the third period.

Kennebunk regained the lead with about 10 minutes left when David Parker scored on a shot from the right circle.

Three minutes later, Baumier made it 5-3. He took Parker’s pass from the left point and slid a backhander inside the left post after being left uncovered in front of the crease.

Advertisement

“Some teams won’t capitalize,” Buotte said, “but we gave (Kennebunk) a few golden opportunities and they took them right away.”

Jack Graydon’s empty-net goal completed the scoring.

Both goalies had their moments during the scoreless first period.

Less than four minutes into the game, Rusk stopped a backhander after Jan Rutrle beat two defenders down the wing. Rutrle got loose again on the left side late in the period, but Rusk made a pad save.

Kennebunk’s Mike LeBlanc made back-to-back stops on close-in shots by Matt Riggle and Curtis Guimond late in the first to keep the Capers off the scoreboard.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.