LEWISTON — Shawn Sullivan scored with 1:27 remaining to lift top-seeded Gorham to a 1-0 win against No. 5 Kennebunk in a Western Class B boys’ hockey semifinal Friday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Sullivan turned a nifty feed from Jared Wood into the game’s lone goal, sending the Rams into the regional final against Greely at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Colisee.
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As Wood skated with the puck around the back of the net, Sullivan rushed in from the top of the left circle, collected Wood’s pass and beat goalie Mike Leblanc with a quick one-timer.
“I was just being the third guy high,” Sullivan said, “We had Tucker (Buteau) down on the forecheck. We read the play. We knew what we wanted to do, and (Wood) gave me a great pass. He put it right on my tape.”
“(Sullivan) made a good look on that, and our (defense) got caught watching the puck a little bit, and he got a good pass,” Kennebunk Coach Sean Smith said.
“We knew it was going to be a dirty goal,” Sullivan said. “It wasn’t going to be fancy.”
Gorham, which dropped to Class B this season, advanced to its first regional championship game in the 20-year history of the program.
“There’s been so many people who have worked so hard for so long to get this program to where it is,” said Gorham Coach Jon Portwine, a 1997 Gorham graduate who played four seasons for the Rams. “Just to get to this level is payback to all those people who have done so much and worked so hard.”
Leblanc made 25 saves, while Gorham goalie Justin Broy stopped 18 shots.
“I can’t say enough about the two goalies. They both played outstanding tonight,” Portwine said.
Kennebunk (11-8-1) had to kill four penalties in the second period and was limited to one shot. Broy stopped Boden Beveridge on a shot from the slot with less than two minutes left in the period.
Leblanc robbed Sullivan less than five minutes into the third period, making a pad save after the Gorham forward broke in alone.
Gorham held a 9-8 edge in shots during the final period.
“It was a great game,” Smith said. “I knew it was going to come down to one goal, one way or the other.”
Gorham played Greely twice during the regular season, losing 2-1 both times.
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