LEWISTON — Thanks to a third-period goal from Henry Norris, the Falmouth boys hockey team beat Thornton Academy 3-2 in the Class A South semifinals Saturday afternoon.

The No. 2 Yachtsmen also received scores from Robert Armitage and Reece Armitage, while goalie Spencer Pierce recorded 19 saves.

TA’s goal scorers were Reagan Wintle and Walsh Troiani-Gagner. Freshman goalie Seth Dube made 25 saves in net.

Falmouth’s offense dominated the No. 3 Trojans from the opening faceoff.

The Yachtsmen controlled the puck for much of the first period and immediately pressured Dube. In the opening five minutes, Dube recorded seven saves and finished the opening 15 minutes with 13 saves.

Not only was Falmouth successful on the offense side of play, the Yachtsmen defense also limited the amount of looks for TA. The Trojans were not able to put a shot on goal in the opening seven minutes of action.

The Trojans also struggled early on special teams as they received two power play opportunities, but failed to convert on each.

On the other hand, Falmouth took advantage of their power play chances. With 43 seconds remaining in the first period, Robert Armitage took the puck down the right wing and made a close-range, back-handed shot through the legs of Dube for the powerplay goal.

The Trojans came out much faster in the second period and regained some of the momentum in the early minutes. However, Falmouth took advantage of another scoring opportunity and Reece Armitage wristed a shot high in the net, giving the Yachtsmen a 2-0 lead with 11:48 remaining in the second.

TA continued to grind and slowly began winning the possession battle midway through the second.

At the 7:01 mark, the Trojans went on a 5-on-3 powerplay thanks to consecutive Falmouth hooking penalties.

Although Falmouth successfully killed off the first penalty, TA’s Wintle wrapped around the net and put away a power play goal, bringing the score to 2-1 with 5:13 left in the second.

Just over a minute late, the Trojans continued to attack as Troiani-Gagner crashed the Falmouth net and scored off a rebound, tying the score at 2-2. The tie would carry over into the final period of action.

Falmouth wasted little time getting back on top. Just 2:27 into the third, Norris gained possession of the puck and broke away down the right wing, launching the go-ahead and eventual game-winner in the net, bringing the score to 3-2.

Although TA coach Jamie Gagnon was disappointed with the loss, he was proud of his team’s effort.

“Sometimes games like this happen, I was happy with their effort today. This may be a loss, but one we can be proud of,” said Gagnon.

Gagnon was impressed with Dube’s performance – especially with it being the freshman’s first playoff stint.

“I’ve been saying the entire year that he’s fearless and that’s the way he played tonight,” said Gagnon.

When reflecting on his squad’s year, Gagnon was proud of it’s progression, especially coming off a rough 2014-15 campaign.

“We came into this season 2-17 last year, so all we wanted to do is take strides. As they’ve progressed I’ve seen the change and the bar raise, our goal was to get that third see and play a game at home,” said Gagnon. “We wanted to see them give a full 45-minute effort and they did that. I wanted them to take strides forward and they did and that’s all you can ask for.”

— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.