#3 Hampden Academy Upsets #2 Cony 4-2 in Class B Hockey Semifinals

Colby College was the host for the 2nd of two Class B North hockey semifinals, featuring the #3 seeded Hampden Academy Broncos and the #2 Cony Rams. Thanks to a hard-fought effort by Hampden Academy, the Broncos were able to skate away with a 4-2 win to move on to the regional final.

Hampden had multiple chances in the first few minutes, including a shot by Lucas Dunn from inside the left face-off circle that went just wide of the net.

Keith Brooks hit the post with about 8:40 to go in the first period, but it was Freshman Brody Miller who opened the scoring with his 2nd varsity goal for Hampden Academy. Miller’s goal came with 6:55 remaining in the first period, with assists from Lucas Dunn and Matt Shayne.

The Broncos would have a power play with Cooper Clark in the box, but were unable to take the opportunity.

Just a minute and 14 seconds into the second period was all it took for Clark to tie the game with a shot from a tough angle that somehow beat Aiden Surran on the power play.

Alex Leet almost gave Cony the lead when his shot from the high slot went just wide of the net. Hampden Academy forced a couple of nice saves out of Rams goaltender Landon Foster, but he wasn’t able to keep his save streak for too long.

Lucas Dunn was able to pounce on a rebound from Matt Shayne’s shot. The goal came with 3:38 played in the second period on the power play. Hampden took a 2-1 lead into the locker room for the second intermission.

The Rams had just 15 minutes to save their season, and they didn’t waste much of it before they got the tying goal, a minute and 48 seconds to be exact. Owen Lyons scored assisted by Ben Platt, and it was game on in Waterville.

With 6:40 to go Colin McKay put the Broncos in front again with a shot from the top of the right face-off circle to give Hampden a 3-2 lead. Keith Brooks got the assist with 6:40 remaining in regulation.

Brooks almost sealed the deal with about 1:30 left, but Foster made a nice save with the blocker to keep Cony alive. An all-out effort by Lucas Dunn led to him scoring an empty netter with 9.9 seconds to go, pretty much finishing the game as a contest.

As the buzzer sounded, the Broncos rushed to celebrate with their Sophomore goaltender, Aiden Surran, who had yet another excellent performance.

Hampden coach Zach Wilson said that “Players currently have bought in and are understanding if we bring the effort and execute our gameplan, we can do it.” He has also been telling his players to “keep climbing the mountain”, and they are almost at the top of it.

The Broncos will face Camden Hills in a rematch of the 2022 Class B North regional final. That game will be Tuesday night at Alfond Arena in Orono.