LEWISTON — Second-seeded Gardiner cashed in on its scoring opportunities early, then held on to pull out a 5-4 win against No. 6 Cape Elizabeth in a Class B South boys’ hockey semifinal Friday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

The Tigers will play Yarmouth for the regional championship at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Colisee.

Gardiner’s victory came two weeks after the Tigers lost 3-1 to Cape Elizabeth in their last game of the regular season.

“We took advantage of the chances we got, and that’s the only difference in the time we played (Cape) before,” Gardiner Coach Sam Moore said. “We took advantage of our opportunities this time, and we didn’t when we played them down in Portland.”

The Tigers (15-4-1) built a 3-0 lead before Cape (8-10-2) could get going offensively.

Jake Folsom, a junior forward who figured in four of Gardiner’s goals, opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game with an outstanding individual effort. After beating a defender to a loose puck in the neutral zone, Folsom fired a shot from just above the left hash mark. Cape goalie Grant Rusk stopped the shot but was unable to control the rebound, and Folsom tucked it inside the left post for an unassisted goal.

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Gardiner added to its lead in the first six minutes of the second period, getting goals from Folsom and Tristan Hebert.

Cape defenseman Gavin Spidie made it 3-1 with about five minutes left in the period when he put in a shot from the left point while the Capers skated with a two-man advantage. Moments later, Hebert scored a short-handed goal after winning a battle with a defenseman for control of the puck in front of the Cape Elizabeth goal.

“That was really huge to come back because it takes away their momentum,” Moore said.

“(The goals) came a little bit easier for us tonight than it did them.”

Tim Corsello cut into the deficit early in the third, sweeping a backhander over the outstretched leg of Gardiner goalie Michael Poirier to make it 4-2.

Exactly one minute later, Ryan Kelly put in a shot from the top of the slot to restore the Tigers’ three-goal lead.

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“We made a couple mistakes we don’t usually make,” Cape Coach Matt Buotte said. “Tonight, we got all the goals we wanted, (but) we didn’t get the defense.”

James Boeschenstein made it 5-3 with 5:58 left, jamming the puck under Poirier’s pads for a power-play goal. Then Spidie scored again with 1:04 left during another two-man advantage.

The Capers held a 32-14 edge in shots.

“In my opinion, the better team is going home tonight, and I don’t mean any disrespect to Gardiner,” Buotte said. “The puck was in their end all night.”


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