Biddeford’s Rick Ruck tracks down the puck in the third period Monday against Cheverus in the Class A South playoffs.
Biddeford’s goal scorers were Rick Ruck, Joe Anders, Mike Reissfelder and Curtis Petit, who scored twice in the loss.
Cheverus got two goals from both Chris Vallee and Mike Hatch and Jesse Pierce and Shawn Walsh added one goal each.
The Tigers wasted little time getting on the board in the first period. Within the first six minutes, Biddeford received its first goal off a hard shot from Ruck and later a goal from Petit off a breakaway that he took nearly the length of the ice to push the lead to 2-0.
The Stags settled down for the remainder of the period, gaining control of the puck for much of the final nine minutes. Cheverus was able to stop the bleeding and trailed 2-0 heading into the second period.
The second period started off fast, with both teams attacking the opposing defenses. Biddeford struck first, getting another breakaway goal, this time from Reissfelder at the 9:52 mark.
Less than two minutes later, Cheverus goalie Jason Halvorson made a kick save to the right, leaving the left side of the net open. Petit took advantage and netted his second goal, giving the Tigers a commanding 4-0 lead with 8:23 remaining in the second.
At that point, Cheverus coach Dan Lucas decided to make a goalie switch, putting Colby Benway in net.
Cheverus quickly shot back and got on the board at the 7:25 mark when Vallee slapped a pass from the outside in the net. Just 2:53 later, Pierce delivered a powerplay goal off of a slapshot to bring the score to 4-2.
Vallee scored his second goal just 23 seconds later, bringing the Stags within one heading into the final period of play.
Cheverus carried the momentum into the third period when Hatch scored his second goal just 10 seconds in, tying the score 4-4 .
Anders gave the Tigers the late lead, sending a slapshot of his own from close range in the net. The Tigers’ lead did not sustain as Walsh took a breakaway the length of the ice for the tying goal.
Both squads grinded, exchanging scoring opportunities for the remainder of regulation, but neither could finish – and the game would head to overtime.
Just 1:33 into the extra period, Cheverus went on a five-minute powerplay on a Biddeford boarding penalty. Just five seconds into the powerplay, the Stags capitalized as Hatch delivered the game winning goal.
Lucas credited Benway for a strong outing .
“If you get him in situations like that, he seems to play better if he doesn’t know if he will be in net. He overthinks it sometimes, but he’s a good reactionary goalie anyway. I think he really stepped up.,” said Lucas.
Biddeford coach Rich Reissfelder was impressed with Cheverus’ fight throughout the game.
“We had a couple of defensive turnovers that helped them out, which they earned. You have to give them credit, they never gave up, they kept skating … there was a lot of time on the clock. They kept chipping away and got themselves back in the game,” said Reissfelder.
Reissfelder was proud of his senior captains and felt that their leadership rubbed off on the rest of his team throughout the year.
“It begins with our captains. With Kerry Crepeau, Cody Sevigny, Tom (Green), you really can’t question their effort level,” said Reissfelder. “I’m proud of all of them. Joe Anders had a big goal today, Mike (Reissfelder) had one, it trickled down throughout the year and we just couldn’t get a bounce.”
— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponselled can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323.
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