GORHAM — If the budget cleaver had cut deep enough, Massabesic/OOB would probably not have had a varsity hockey program this season.

Had that been the case, Tyler Albert wouldn’t have led all other Maine high school hockey players in goal scoring.

Nor would the Mustangs (9-7-2) have fashioned their best season in several years.

It’s a good thing for them that the blade stopped short of the bone, especially since they wrapped up the season, out of the playoffs, but in high spirits with a 3-1 win over Bonny Eagle, at USM Ice Arena Tuesday night.

“It’s been good,” said senior defenseman Cam Wyman, who along with Aaron Gass and younger brother Ian Wyman, got the Mustang goals. “My first three years, we only had two or three wins combined. Going out

with nine in the last year is a good feeling.”

Said Albert, who transferred from Biddeford last year, “It feels great after a losing season.”

That could have been the final season, if stringent cuts to the Massabesic budget had claimed the program.

Head coach Dave Pasquarello and his staff (assistants Laurin Brooks, Shawn Grover, and

Kyle Greenleaf), working in consort with the school’s hockey boosters, kept the hockey alive.

The players responded with five straight wins out of the gate, and remained in playoff contention until the final weekend of the season.

“It speaks volumes about the character of the kids we have around here,” said Pasquarello, who finished his third season at the helm.

Among them is Albert, who fired home 33 goals while playing on Massabesic’s top line.

Yet, with time ticking down on his high school career, Albert passed up some ripe goal-scoring chances and instead, attempted to set up fellow senior Dakota Gagne for what would have been his first tally.

“It (the goal total) feels good,” said Albert. “But I really don’t talk about it. It’s hockey. Just play the game. We’re a team.”

A team with a promising future, for that matter.

The Mustangs will lose just three seniors, and can look forward to several team members returning, including second leading scorer, 16-goal man Greg Lodge.

“Lodgie’s the heart and soul of this team,” said Pasquarello. “He works all three zones. He’s a stallion. If he works on his strength and condition, he can play at the next level. He’s a Brian Gionta type of player.”

While he won’t be part of the team’s future, Wyman said he feels that the group he’s leaving behind is on the rise.

“Nobody figured we’d win nine games this year,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll keep things going, and everyone will play good.”

— Contact Staff Writer Dan Hickling at [email protected].