PORTLAND — South Portland/Freeport/ Waynflete jumped out to a 3-0 lead before holding off Cheverus and adding an empty-netter late for a 4-2 victory over the Stags in boys high school Class A South hockey quarterfinal action at Troubh Arena.

With the win, the third-seeded Red Riots (11-8) move on to face No. 2 Biddeford in a semifinal match at the Colisee in Lewiston on Saturday at 2 p.m.

It didn’t take long for the Red Riots to register a goal. Just 29 seconds in, Red Riots forward Deven Hannan picked up the puck off an Anthony Panciocco pass at the left dot and the junior from Freeport High School blasted it in for the score.

“At the beginning of the year, we got down right off at the beginning and that would take the life out of us,” Hannan said. “For us to go out and get that goal was huge. It gives us momentum.”

“When we had 5-on-5, during those opportunities, we pretty much dominated,” Red Riots coach Joe Robinson said. “Our forechecking was fantastic tonight, a lot of pressure. This was a huge, huge win for us.”

Following a Red Riots penalty, Mitchell Adams of Waynflete made it 2-0 when he slipped a shot past Stags keeper Bryson Pomerleau off a Ben Musgrove pass for the short-handed score with 3:03 remaining in the period.

Once again, it took only 29 seconds for the Red Riots to skate down the fresh ice

after the opening-period faceoff and push one across for a score.

This time, South Portland High School’s Ben McMains produced the early goal after taking a pass from Cullen Adams for the score.

“I knew Cheverus was not going to go away,” Robinson said. “I told the kids between the periods they weren’t going away without a fight and it was going to be a dogfight from there.”

Coach Robinson was correct, Cheverus was not about to fold its tents.

Colby Anton tallied the Stags’ first score when he beat Red Riots keeper Liam McGibbon to cut deficit to two less than four minutes into the frame.

Three minutes later, Cheverus scored again as Jackson Wilson netted a short-handed goal to bring the score to 3-2.

Cheverus had its chances to tie the contest, especially after three separate penalties were called on the Red Riots, including a five-minute major for boarding. The Stags skated with two-man advantage for a minute, before skating 5-on-4 for over three minutes late in the second.

But the Red Riots denied the Stags the tying goal, killing the clock and still holding on to a 3-2 lead heading into the final period.

The Stags outshot South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete, 12-6, in the period, but it was the five power plays the Red Riots killed that gave them back the momentum.

“When we were in there talking (in the locker room between the second and third periods), I said, ‘hey, you guys killed it’ and that was when I told them to go out there and finish it,” Robinson added.

The third period played out with a lot of keep-away. South Portland/Freeport/ Waynflete continued its defensive and penalty-killing prowess, keeping the Stags off the scoreboard throughout the third behind six of McGibbon’s 18 saves.

One save included a stop with two minutes left in the contest when the junior smothered a Cheverus shot. The puck then slipped out and was pushed across for what appeared to be a game-tying goal. But after an officials discussion, it was ruled the whistle had blown before the puck came loose.

“I was told the line judge blew his whistle before it went in,” Robinson said. “I was stressing it a little because nothing was going our way all night, so I was thinking why would anything change at this point.”

With a minute left, the Stags pulled Pomerleau from the net, but Cheverus was unable to beat McGibbon again.

Hannan added an empty-net score with less than 14 seconds on the clock to seal the victory.

“We didn’t quit. The guys didn’t let outside factors control their game,” Robinson said. “I’m very proud of them, and as I preach that a lot to them, we’re playing well right now.”

And when asked if he knew that the three different goal-scorers for the Red Riots represented all three schools in the co-op, Hannan was all smiles, not realizing that had occurred, proving even more so that the squad plays as one.

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