LEWISTON — In the closing seconds of the second overtime, a slap shot was blocked by Scarborough’s Jack Callahan. Teammate Sean McGovern’s eyes widened.

The loose puck slid into the neutral zone where McGovern gathered it, skating full bore toward the St. Dominic goal. McGovern went back to the same deke-and-backhand move he failed at before.

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McGovern deked. He shot. He scored.

That goal with 17 seconds left in the second overtime gave Scarborough High a 2-1 win over St. Dominic for the Class A boys’ hockey state championship Saturday night at the Colisee.

It’s the first Class A title for the Red Storm (14-5-3), who won a Class B title in 1995.

St. Dominic (18-2-1) was seeking its 25th championship and first since 2000. They have lost five state title games since, including last year’s 3-2 overtime loss to Falmouth.

“The boys really worked for 365 days, from when we left here a year ago,” St. Dom’s Coach Steve Ouellette said. “It makes it hurt that much more.”

After a 1-1 first period, neither team could break through. Both goalies stood out.

Ben Bragg of Scarborough made 32 saves; Kyle Welsh of the Saints made 26.

After McGovern beat Welsh for the winner, Welsh collapsed with his face down. While his teammates celebrated, Bragg skated the length of the ice to console his counterpart.

“I told him he played a tremendous game and had nothing to be ashamed of,” Bragg said. “I had a lot of respect for him.”

Welsh stopped McGovern on a short-handed breakaway in the third period, making a pad save on a backhander.

Then came another chance in overtime.

“Jack made a great block. I saw the puck go out to the neutral zone,” McGovern said. “Earlier in the game I had a breakaway. (Welsh) stopped me. I knew he wouldn’t think I would go backhand again so I pulled the same move.

“I made a nice play, I guess.”

It was a play he’ll never forget.

“I’m so happy for him,” Scarborough Coach Norm Gagne said. “He was the true vocal leader for us. When things weren’t going well for us, he was always saying something positive.”

Scarborough could have used some positive thinking at the start, when St. Dom’s peppered Bragg with five quality shots in the first 1:20, including two solid rebound chances. Bragg kept his position and came up big on all of them.

“They put me back on my feet,” Bragg said. “I thought, ‘all right, this is going to be a game.’ They battled but we battled back.”

The Saints’ dangerous duo of Brad Berube and Caleb Labrie kept creating opportunities.

“We had our chances. Obviously they got some pretty good goaltending,” Ouellette said. “We just didn’t get any bounces.”

The Saints did get one, taking a 1-0 lead when Labrie won a faceoff to Berube, who drilled it in at 6:50.

Later in the first period, McGovern said he was “gassed” and Skylar Pettingill subbed in on the top line for a shift.

Matt Caron fired a puck in and a Saints defenseman blocked it, sending the puck right to Pettingill’s stick.

“Popped out to me and I just buried it,” Pettingill said of the goal at 13:05, making it 1-1.

Gagne couldn’t believe it.

“I put in Skylar. On his first shift he scored,” Gagne said.

Pettingill is one of the nine sophomores on the Red Storm, a team that didn’t have high aspirations.

“I never expected to be here,” said Gagne, who has coached seven state champions with three teams (Gardiner and Waterville earlier).

“I knew we could battle but I never expected to battle with the big boys like we did.”

The younger players had enough older players (seven seniors and five juniors) to help them buy into Scarborough’s defensive system.

Senior Kevin Smith and junior Sean McDonald led the defensemen, logging nearly half the ice time.

“I told them they had to suck it up,” Gagne said. “We played our system. We had some breakdowns but we have a goalie that saves us. When you have that, anything can happen.”

Scarborough killed five penalties and was scoreless on four power plays. St. Dom’s outshot the Red Storm, 33-28.

“It was an emotional battle and a physical battle,” McGovern said. “They were coming after us. They have a lot of speed. We just kept fighting back … And thankfully Ben Bragg stood on his head.”

In the first overtime, both teams looked tired with limited chances. Bragg stopped Dillon Pratt’s one-timer.

Near the end of the second overtime, the Saints worked the puck in Scarborough’s zone. But then Callahan blocked that slap shot, and McGovern saw a loose puck. And soon the Scarborough players were jumping on each other.

“We just needed a bounce,” Gagne said.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH

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