But, those two goals proved costly as the Rams skated off with a hard-fought 2-1 win, leaving both teams with 1-1 records.
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse coach A.J. Kavanaugh felt Lacey gave his team a chance to win.
“It was a tough night for us collectively, other than Parker, who played unbelievably in his first game of the season,” said Kavanaugh, whose team is slated to host Bangor on Friday at 6:30 p.m. “Parker couldn’t have played better. For the rest, the execution just wasn’t there all the way through the lines. They just didn’t seem to have it. The effort was there, especially down the stretch in the third period. But the puck wasn’t landing on sticks and the bounces weren’t going our way.”
Tied 1-1 as the clock ticked down to under one minute left in regulation, Cony/ Monmouth/ Hall- Dale’s Cole Lockhart chipped a pass to Michael Boivin. An Eagles defender pressured, but Boivin slipped a pass to linemate Cam Wilson, who managed to spin in front of Lacey and slip a shot through the 5- hole with 39.6 seconds remaining.
“We wanted to stay out of overtime, so it was nice to close it out,” said Wilson, whose Rams lost to Portland/ Deering in its season opener, 5-4 in overtime.
Eagles lead
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse scored five power-play goals in six chances in its opener against Edward Little on Saturday, a 10-6 come-from behind win at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
The Eagles kept the man up streak going, scoring on their initial power play just 2:13 into the game. Tyler LaCascio fired a shot inches wide of Dalton Bowie’s cage. The puck quickly bounced off the boards to Tyler Halls, who banked the shot in off of Bowie for a 1-0 lead.
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse held a 7-2 shot advantage late in the first period, but a too many men on the ice penalty shifted the ice to the Rams, who out-shot the Eagles 13-8 in the opening frame but still trailed 1-0.
“Their goaltender took really good angles and shielded things off,” said Wilson of Lacey.
The Rams continued to pressure in the second period, firing the first eight shots on goal before finally scoring the equalizer. Lockhart took advantage of a slight misplay at the blue line and skated in on Lacey alone. Lockhart faked a shot with his forehand, shifted to his backhand and slid the puck past a prone Lacey.
Cony/ Monmouth/ Hall- Dale kept coming, again out-shooting and out-chancing the Eagles in the middle period. Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/ Morse took two penalties, including a major on Ryley Austin that gave the Rams a 5-on-3 advantage heading into the third period.
But, the Eagles stood tall as defensemen Halls, Orion Sargent and Noah Buiniskas cleared the puck down the ice to kill off the power play.
“I could feel momentum starting to shift after killing off the 5-on-3, but we couldn’t get pucks deep and get a forecheck going, resulting in our 18 shots,” said Kavanaugh.
Lacey made several big saves down the stretch, stopping Riley Dowe, Nate Foye, Wilson and Lockhart from point-blank range.
Bowie, who had 17 saves, made his best stop on a tip by LaCascio midway through the frame.
Kavanaugh knows his team will need to produce more chances against Bangor Friday night.
“We are going to have to get more pucks on net, not only more than 18 shots but a lot of traffic in front of the net,” said Kavanaugh, “and another great game from Parker.”
Mt. Ararat/ Lisbon/ Morse finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Rams failed to score on their four man-up opportunities. Cony/Monmouth/ Hall-Dale is slated to host Gardiner on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Cony/Monmouth/Hall-Dale 2, Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse 1
At Sidney J. Watson Arena in Brunswick
| Rams | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | |
| Eagles | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 |
First period — 1. (MtA) Tyler Halls (Tyler LaCascio), ppg, 2:13. Penalties — (C) Cole Lockhart, interference, 1:13; (C) Tyler Dostie, high sticking, 6:57; (MtA) bench, too many men (served by Cam Grant), 8:24. Second period — 2. (C) Cole Lockart, 7:07. Penalties — (MtA) Sam Alexander, interference, 1:35; (C) Logan Leadbetter, kneeing, 9:25; (C) Thomas Arps, hooking, 11:35; (MtA) Ryley Austin, major, check from behind, 12:28; (MtA) Sam Alexander, slashing, 13:15. Third period — 3. (C) Cam Wilson (Michael Boivin, Cole Lockhart), 14:20. Penalty — (C) Tyler Dostie, interference, 7:17. Shots on goal — (C) 13-11-11-35; (MtA) 8-5-5-18. Saves — (C) Dalton Bowie 17; (MtA) Parker Lacey 33. Power play opportunities — Cony 0-4; Mt. Ararat 1-5. Records — Cony/Monmouth/Hall-Dale 1-1; Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse 1-1. Up next for the Eagles —Friday at home vs. Bangor, 6:30 p.m.
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