These rivals do not share a border. There is no Battle of the Bridge theme when they meet. They reside in separate counties, their campuses are more than 50 miles apart.

But when York and Greely High meet on the ice, there is familiarity — and excitement.

Top-seeded Greely (15-3-1) and second-seeded York (14-5) meet at 7 p.m. tonight at the Colisee in Lewiston for the Western Class B boys’ hockey championship and a berth in Saturday’s state title game.

“We’ve had a pretty extraordinary history of games,” Greely Coach Barry Mothes said. “Some pretty exciting playoff games.”

This is their seventh meeting in the postseason in the past eight years. All but one of those games has been decided by one goal. There have been goals in the last second of play and in overtime.

“It’s always fun to play Greely,” York Coach Michael Vessey said.

Last year, a heavily favored York team sneaked past the fourth-seeded Rangers 3-2 in the semifinals. The Wildcats lost to Brewer in the state final.

Greely beat York 8-0 in the 2009 Western B semifinals, on its way to the state title, beating Presque Isle.

This year, Greely has been consistently strong, while York has recovered from a rocky start.

The Rangers’ losses have come to Class A powers Biddeford and Falmouth, along with a 4-3 upset by Cape Elizabeth.

Those three games are the only ones in which Greely has allowed more than two goals.

York’s defense and special teams were suspect early, as the Wildcats began the year 3-4. Three of those losses came to Class A teams, the other a 6-2 decision against Greely.

“We made changes,” Vessey said. “We continued to grow a little bit, getting better month after month.”

The Wildcats are 11-1 since. Their 3-0 loss to Greely on Jan. 27 was very deceiving.

“It was fairly tight,” Mothes said. “We got a funky, deflected goal.”

Greely took a 1-0 lead when a pass by the Wildcats deflected off a York player and into the net. The Rangers added two empty-net goals at the end.

“It was a very good game by both teams, end to end,” Vessey said. “Both teams play terrific team defense.”

Greely’s strength begins with goalie Matt Labbe (1.53 goals-against average). He plays behind some strong defensemen, including Erik Rost, Tim Storey and Michael Tuller.

“We have to get traffic in front of Matt Labbe,” Vessey said.

The Rangers’ top scorers have been Justin Murphy (27 points), Kenny Richards (24) and Devyn Rogers (22), though John Downey scored twice in the semifinals.

York improved as goalie Alex Ahrikenchikh (1.75 GAA) improved. He has allowed eight goals in his last 11 games. Defenseman Conor O’Brien is a rock and an offensive force (29 points).

The Wildcats’ scoring usually stems from forwards Anthony Figlioli (47 points) and Craig Decato (45).

“They are really talented forwards who work together well,” Mothes said.

It’s Greely vs. York. You cannot predict a winner; only that it will be close.

“They compete hard,” Mothes said. “I’d like to think the same can be said about us.”

Tonight’s winner plays Brewer (19-0-1), which beat Houlton/Hodgdon 10-0 Tuesday in the Eastern Maine final at Orono.

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or: kthomas@pressherald.com

 

 

 

 

Copy the Story Link