Biddeford 6

Scarborough 3

For the second straight year the Scarborough hockey team played for the Western Class A title. And for the second straight year the Red Storm was beaten by the eventual state champion. Last year it was Cheverus, this year it was Biddeford who used two third period power play goals to advance to the championship game with a 6-3 win on Tuesday, March 6 at the Civic Center in Portland.

“The game was back and forth,” said Biddeford coach Jamie Gagnon. “Tony (Dube) made some big saves; Josh (Larrabee) made some big saves. When you get two good hockey teams going back and forth, we weren’t surprised by that. We anticipated a back and forth game.”

The Red Storm got on the board first when Mike Dakers got the puck ahead to Brent Mayo. Mayo stuffed the puck under Dube’s pads and into the cage. The Storm kept the play in the Biddeford end of the ice for most of the first period. But Mayo’s goal was the only one they could get past Dube in the opening frame. At the first intermission Scarborough led 1-0 and had outshot the Tigers 13-6.

Biddeford’s Shawn Grover tied the game at the 4:54 mark of the second period when he slipped the puck through Larrabee’s legs. That goal sparked a five goal period that saw the teams trade blows back and forth. Just over two minutes after Grover tied the game, Steve Cook gave Scarborough their second lead of the game with his first goal of the game.

The Scarborough lead didn’t last long as Biddeford defenseman Brian Dumoulin got control of the puck at the blue line during a power play. Dumoulin ripped a shot that got past Larrabee and just like that the game was tied 2-2.

A few minutes later the Tigers once again found themselves on the power play. Mike Dakers stole the puck in the neutral zone and skated into the Biddeford zone all alone. He moved to Dube’s left and launched a wrist shot over his shoulder for the go ahead goal.

With just 31.1 seconds to play in the second period, the Tigers tied the game yet again when Jeremy Grebin attempted to pass the puck and it was deflected into the net by a Scarborough defender. Entering the second intermission, the game was tied 3-3.

“To go down early was a really bad feeling,” said Dube. “But the team once again battled back. We got that goal then I gave up a weak second one; not one I usually give up. But the team came back. Then I gave up a third one sniped right over my shoulder; great shot by Mike. Then we came and put the third one away. I told the coach ‘whoever scores the next one is going to win this hockey game.'”

Biddeford scored that next goal. At 2:38 of the final period, the Tigers took their first and only lead of the game when Grover tallied his second goal of the game during a power play. The Tigers led 4-3 but still had to withstand the Scarborough attack for the rest of the game.

“When we got ahead we needed to stay on top because we knew they’d come right back with another wave of forwards,” Gagnon said. “I give all the credit to Scarborough; they played a tremendous hockey game. They have Mayo, Dakers, Quirk, York, Cook, and Larrabee they go on and on. They are a great hockey team. We were fortunate to put a couple by them in the third and take advantage of a couple of power plays. And that was the difference.”

About four minutes after Grover’s go ahead goal, Nick Reny struck on the power play for Biddeford and the Tigers suddenly had some breathing room. The final blow was struck for Biddeford with just under five minutes left. Cam Madore wrested a shot over Larrabee to give the Tigers a 6-3 advantage.

“I told you it would be two good teams playing against each other,” said Scarborough coach Jay Mazur. “They had the same style we had. We were both balanced against each other. It was Jamie’s night. His boys played hard and they deserved it. They took advantage of the situations given to them and we didn’t. You can talk about penalties but they capitalized on penalties. Their power play out performed our power play.”

So while the Tigers were celebrating and planning a trip to Lewiston, the Red Storm was left to wonder what might have been. Picked before the season to be the best in the west, they had a lot to live up to as the preseason favorite.

“When you see the paper and you are already ranked number one before the season starts then you rip off a 6-0 record you should feel good about yourselves,” Mazur said. “But that’s where you learn how to handle it. There is a fine line between confident and cocky and it’s a very thin line. We allowed ourselves to be in the clouds. We had to put our feet back on the ground and go from there. We had some good losses and that’s why we made it this far because of those losses.”

The Red Storm will be a much different team the next time they take the ice. This year’s squad featured 15 seniors who will not return next year. Many of those seniors were among the top players in the state including three of the top ten scorers in the west in Brent Mayo, Mike Dakers and Steve Cook. But while next year’s team will have a different look, they will still have the same goal.

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