LEWISTON – Greely High kept trying to grab momentum in the Western Class B boys’ hockey championship game Wednesday night at the Colisee.
But every time the Rangers scored, it seemed their celebration wasn’t quite over before York had responded.
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York got three goals and an assist from Craig Decato, and 26 saves from Alex Ahrikenchikh in a 6-4 victory.
Second-seeded York (15-5) won its second straight regional title and advanced to the Class B state title game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Colisee against Brewer (19-0-1), the defending champion.
George Lindbom, Ryan Curtin and Jared Clauson also scored for York, which won with special teams — two power-play goals and a short-handed goal.
Drew Hackett led top-ranked Greely (15-4-1) with three goals. Kenny Richards also scored.
“We had four goals and I feel like we could have had seven or eight if we had finished better,” Greely Coach Barry Mothes said. “But I give (York) credit for coming back and scoring quickly. That hurt.”
Every time Greely scored, York went back to work with one and sometimes two scores.
“That was critical,” York Coach Michael Vessey said. “As long as we could stay ahead of them, or even with them, I was fine. It put pressure on them.”
Greely scored first on a power play. Justin Murphy passed from the slot to Hackett in the right circle. His blast deflected off a defenseman’s skate and into the net at 8:24.
York took 22 seconds to respond. Lindbom rebounded Dillon DellaPasqua’s shot at 8:46 to tie it.
On the Wildcats’ first power play, Conor O’Brien received a nifty backhand pass from Wesley Warner and ripped a slap shot that Curtin tipped inside the left post at 11:04.
Greely made it 2 of 2 on the power play when Richards rebounded Michael Tuller’s shot 54 seconds into the second period, making it 2-2.
Decato took a clearing pass from Shane Hughes and wristed the puck far post from the blue line at 5:22. Then, on York’s second power play, Decato freed the puck from the boards and scored at 9:31 for a 4-2 lead.
Hackett rebounded Johnny Downey’s shot at 13:15, closing the Rangers to 4-3.
It was enough to give Greely a good feeling before the intermission — but York scored seconds later. Clauson’s goal from Decato and Anthony Figlioi made it 5-3 at 13:49.
In the third period, Decato stole the puck on a penalty kill and broke away. His shot was blocked, but then he dived for the loose puck and put it in at 7:21 for a 6-3 lead.
Greely pulled its goalie with three minutes to go and Hackett closed it to 6-4 at 13:10.
After a penalty, Greely kept the goalie out and had a six-on-four for 1:09, but the Wildcats and Ahrikenchikh held.
“When Greely was on their comeback, Alex made some really big saves,” Vessey said. “That was the difference between Greely tying and York winning.”
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or:
kthomas@pressherald.com
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