LEWISTON — No one said anything about a curse, but Thornton Academy hockey coach Shawn Rousseau said it “feels like we exorcised a demon.”
Thornton did what no other team could this year and beat Biddeford High, topping the Tigers 4-3 on Tuesday night in the Western Class A championship at the Colisee.
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Second-seeded Thornton (16-5) moves on to its first state title game Saturday at 6 p.m. against Lewiston at the Colisee.
Top-seed Biddeford, winners of three state titles in four years, is done at 17-1-3.
Thornton never trailed as the Trojans got two goals from Andrew Carignan, and one apiece from CJ Maksut and Jon Pate. Jameson Finch made 21 saves.
The Trojans outshot Biddeford 29-24 and applied a tight, trapping defense on the Tigers, allowing their big scorers little room.
“We reinforced our defense and generated the turnovers we wanted,” Rousseau said. “We played as close to perfect as I could ask the team to play.”
Still, Brady Fleurent broke free for two goals and an assist. Tyler Audie got the other goal for Biddeford.
“I thought we played great,” Biddeford Coach Rich Reissfelder said. “I thought we outplayed them in the second- and third (periods). Someday the effort is there, but you cannot buy a bounce.”
Up 2-1 after two periods, Thornton got a fluke goal when Pate sent in a shot from the blue line. It came in like a knuckleball and took a bounce over the goalie’s glove for a 3-1 lead at :50.
Fleurent walked in for a backhanded goal at 4:19, making it 3-2.
But the Trojans kept trapping and picking their spots for a steal. Carignan stripped a defenseman at the blue line, raced in and shot over the blocker for a 4-2 lead at 7:46.
Fleurent knocked in the rebound of a shot by Bryan Dallaire at 11:22, and the Tigers were still a threat.
Biddeford pulled its goalie with 53 seconds left, but the Trojans held on, with Sam Canales blocking the last shot, laying down to stop a slap shot and then pushing the puck out of the zone.
“I was just making sure it wouldn’t get through,” Canales said
The Trojans dominated the first period, taking a 1-0 lead and outshooting the Tigers 11-1. Biddeford’s one shot came with one second remaining.
When Biddeford tried to free up Fleurent, there was a Thornton defenseman stealing the puck or forcing Fleurent wide.
“They have a great offense,” defenseman Tyler Danley said. “We wanted to keep them in their zone and not allow any odd-man rushes.”
Midway through the first period, defenseman Ryan Locke stole a pass in the neutral zone and bolted for the left circle. His shot was blocked but Carignan put in the rebound at 8:43.
“We got in all the passing lines,” Locke said. “If we saw anything, we were supposed to just go ahead and steal it.”
Biddeford got chances in the second period. Stephen Comar drove to the net and drew a hooking penalty. On the power play, Audie scored on the rebound of Scott Callahan’s shot, tying the game at 2:59.
Thornton killed off two other penalties in the period and got a momentum changer when Maksut gathered a loose puck in the neutral zone and took off. Fighting off a defender, Maksut shoved the puck inside the right post for a 2-1 lead with nine seconds left in the period.
Thornton, which lost to Biddeford twice this season and in last year’s Western ‘A’ championship, did not surrender the lead.
EASTERN MAINE
LEWISTON 4, ST. DOM’S 1: Ben Wigant had two goals and an assist, and Cam Poussard made 25 saves as the top-ranked Blue Devils (17-1-2) advanced to the state Class A championship game with a 4-1 win over the second-ranked Saints (14-5-2) at the Colisee.
Sam Cloutier put Lewiston on top just 25 seconds into the game, and the Blue Devils padded their lead to 3-0 in the second period on goals just 1:09 apart by Devon Beland and Wigant.
Alex Parker got one back for St. Dom’s in the final minute of the second period, but Poussard protected the lead in the third, stopping all 12 shots.
Wigant clinched the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or: kthomas@pressherald.com
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