LEWISTON — Biddeford goaltender Justin Larnerd seemed to have everything in control in Saturday’s Class A South boys high school hockey semifinal against South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
With Red Riots forward Bradley McMains closing in on the keeper during a second-period penalty shot, Larnerd kept his eye on the puck, eventually poking it off of McMains stick.
The save turned out to be huge, as the second-seeded Tigers earned a hard-fought 3-1 victory and a spot in Tuesday’s Class A South regional final against No. 5 Portland/Deering.
Though both teams played solid defense, it was Biddeford’s Trevor Ouellette who stole the offensive show, scoring all three Tiger goals.
“Everyone doubted us before the season, and our coaches have gotten us to where we are today,” said Ouellette. “We worked hard on our setups in practice and we executed. Our breakout seemed to be on, and we had some 3-on-2 chances.”
For South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete coach Joe Robinson, it was a game of what-ifs, where a bounce here or a bounce there might have turned the tide the Red Riots’ way.
“We had chances, a penalty shot, we had a bunch of chances in the middle that could have rattled in through (Larnerd) 5-hole. It just didn’t go our way,” said the Red Riots coach after his team finished 11-9. “I am very proud. We started out slow, won our first two, but ran into some trouble around Christmas. We lost guys to injuries, but got everyone back and things started clicking. We had the skill and we came on at the end of the season.”
Things began poorly for the Red Riots as Biddeford’s first shot found the back of the net 3:25 into the contest. Ouellette backhanded a shot past South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete goaltender Liam McGibbon (18 saves) for a 1-0 Tigers lead.
The Red Riot defense allowed just one more shot the remainder of the opening frame.
At the other end, Andrew Burns scored the equalizer off an assist from Owen Anderson to send the teams to the locker room deadlocked at one goal apiece.
“They locked it down defensively, with both teams having some high-octane offense, and we talked about getting back to what we do best and lock it down,” said Biddeford coach Jason Tremblay.
Power play
The Tigers began the second period with 1:54 of power-play time, but failed to score. Three more Red Riot penalties, including a pair that gave Biddeford a 5-on-3 power play for 1:07, had the Red Riots on their heels.
South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete killed the two-man disadvantage, but Ouellette put home a rebound of a Colin Petit shot for a 5-on-4 power-play goal and a 2-1 Biddeford lead.
“We called a timeout before the 5-on-3, and I said it really needed to happen for us. If you don’t score on the 5-on-3 or 5-on-4, the momentum changes, and this game is about momentum,” Tremblay said. “We were able to bear down and get the big goal. Trevor and his line were on their game.”
“That power-play goal was huge. They had killed the first three power plays, and we didn’t want to have them to pick up some momentum,” said Ouellette.
Moments later, McMains picked up a loose puck and skated in alone on Larnerd’s goal. He was hooked to the ice, crashing into the Biddeford netminder and his net, resulting in a penalty shot. However, Larnerd made the key play to keep his Tigers in the lead.
“We played them earlier in the season and we thought we matched up well with them. But their goalie, Justin, played so well tonight. He was fantastic,” Robinson said.
The South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete coach discussed his frustration with the amount of special teams play occurring in boys’ high school hockey across the state.
“Lately it seems all around the league there is not a lot of 5-on-5 hockey, and you shouldn’t have to play special teams so much in a game. You just have to let the kids play,” the Red Riot coach said.
Still trailing by a goal in the third, the Red Riots pushed forward for the equalizer, but Larnerd made eight more saves to finish with 30 and watched as Ouellette completed his hat trick with 4:22 remaining for a two-goal cushion.
Petit and Nick McSorley assisted on all Tiger goals.
Larnerd finished with 22 saves as South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete outshot the Tigers, 23-21
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