LEWISTON — Kennebunk hardly looked like a top seed during the first period of the Rams’ Western Maine Class B semifinal against No. 5 Cape Elizabeth Friday night, but the Rams can be excused for not flexing their muscles early. They did flex those muscles when it mattered, most, however, as Kennebunk scored the final three goals in a 6-3 victory at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“We just kept battling, kept chipping away and kept fighting. Good things happen when you work hard,” said Kennebunk head coach Sean Smith. “That’s what we’ve been doing all season long, and that’s what we did again tonight.”

There was little action during the first 15 minutes, and in Kennebunk’s case it was trying to find chemistry after shuffling lines due to the absence of first-line junior forward Pat Gassman, who underwent an emergency appendectomy Wednesday night. The ice-breaking period was coupled with early jitters by a group of players that had never felt the pressure of being the No. 1 seed.

“After that first period, we went in our locker room and it was like ”˜oh crap. What is going on right now?’” said Smith.

Senior captain Dave Parker said Smith told the players “Just keep working hard” during the first intermission.

“The first period definitely wasn’t our best all season, and we knew we were going to turn it on in the second period and third period and pop a few in the net,” said Parker.

It didn’t take long for the Rams to wake up, as Bo Beveridge scored from Jan Rutrle just 1:09 into the middle period. The pair teamed up in the same order three minutes later, as Rutrle’s shot hit the post and fell straight down, and Beveridge was on point to poke the loose puck in past Capers goalie Grant Rusk.

“None of our goals were really beautiful, set-up plays, it was all that grind, work hard team goals,” said Smith.

Cape Elizabeth cut the lead in half shortly after going on the game’s only power play. Cole Caswell ripped a shot from the point that deflected off Alex Glidden and in nine minutes into the period.

The teams then traded goals in the final five minutes, as Brenden Whitten put Kennebunk up by two again before Jack Drinan made it 3-2 heading into the second intermission.

Ben Ekedahl nearly tied the game with five seconds left in the period, but his shot from the right side was just off-target. Smith said his team was lucky to still have the lead at that point.

That lead didn’t last long, though, as Drinan scored 21 seconds into the third period to tie the game 3-3.

“It definitely woke us up a little bit,” Parker said of the quick, tying goal. “I think we went in thinking we had the game; that definitely wasn’t the case.”

Kennebunk held strong as Cape Elizabeth grabbed momentum, and Parker put his team back on top five minutes into the period. Gavin Baumler won a puck battle in the corner, then fed to Parker, who held off the challenge of a Caper defender before firing a shot past Rusk.

“It was huge. It picked me up for sure, and I’m sure it picked everybody else on the team up,” said Parker. “Definitely one of the best goals I’ve ever score in my life.”

Baumler, a little-used junior forward, scored a goal of his own less than four minutes later, a moment Smith called “storybook.”

The Capers applied heavy pressure over the last two minutes, trying to extinguish their two-goal deficit, but goalie Mike LeBlanc and the Rams brushed it away. Jack Graydon ”“ Kennebunk’s fifth different scorer ”“ put an exclamation point on the victory with an empty-net goal with 30 seconds left.

“Kids stepped up when we needed them tonight. And that’s a team victory, and that’s how playoff hockey is; it’s about a team win,” said Smith.

The Rams now advance to the Western Maine final next Wednesday at the Colisee. It’s the same game they reached a year ago before losing a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to Gorham, which will again be the team standing in their way this season.

When asked if the team still thinks about that loss, Parker replied “not after this game.”

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.