Hampden Academy Hockey Nips Old Town/Orono 3-2 in Class B Playoff Game

Thanks to Adrian Ellingwood our special Hampden Academy Hockey correspondent for this recap of the Hampden Academy - Old Town/Orono Class B Playoff Game that took place on Saturday, March 5th.

On Saturday, March 5th, the first of two Class B North ice hockey semi-finals took place at Sawyer Arena, where the number 2 seeded Hampden Academy Broncos hosted the number 3 seed and 3-time defending regional champion Old Town/Orono Black Bears. This was the 3rd game in 17 days between the Broncos and the Black Bears.

Sawyer Arena was packed with both OTO and Hampden fans filling the seats, and the game itself looked like it could go either way. The Broncos went to the power play with 4:43 to go in the 1st Period. Hampden Academy took advantage and drew first blood in this semi-final, thanks to Adrian Webb scoring,assisted by Andrew Crouse. 3:34 remained in the opening period.

The game stayed pretty clean through the first period of play, with only one penalty being called. The score remained 1-0 at the end of the 1st Period, with Hampden Academy outshooting OTO 11-6, and having 7 shots on goal compared to 4 for the Black Bears.

The Broncos got off to a great start in the second period, with Tucker Leland doubling his team's lead at 2:32 assisted by Morgan Tash. Just 2:48 later, Tash scored to give Hampden Academy a commanding 3-0 lead, which caused OTO head coach Chris Thurlow to call a timeout.

3:03 after the timeout, the Black Bears got within 2 thanks to Jacob Davis scoring unassisted at 8:23.

Later in the 2nd Period, OTO got within 1 goal from tying the game with Jacob Davis' second goal of the game 3:34 left to set up an intense rest of the game.

Through 2 Periods of play the Broncos outshot the Black Bears 27-17, with shots on goal also favoring the Broncos, 18-14.

The Black Bears put on the pressure in the 3rd period, as they had to, given the score. With 3:33 left in regulation, Dylan Davis committed a high sticking penalty, which certainly didn't help his team.

34 seconds later, Maddox Sapiel committed a penalty to put the Black Bears down 2 men.

Hampden Academy couldn't take advantage of the 5 on 3, but still kept a 3-2 lead. During the 5 on 3 Morgan Tash went to the penalty box, which gave OTO a power play for the final 59 seconds of the game.

Despite all of the penalties late in the game, the score remained 3-2, so Hampden Academy advanced to the regional final.

OTO outshot Hampden Academy 16-9 in the 3rd, but the Broncos outshot the Black Bears 36-33 throughout the whole game. Shots on goal in the 3rd went in favor of the Black Bears 8-4, but overall both teams tied 22-22 in the entire game.

For the Old Town/Orono Black Bears, their season is over and their 3 time defending regional championship streak is snapped. The Broncos will have at least one more game left in their season, when they face either the number 4 seed Camden Hills Windjammers or the number 8 seed Gardiner Tigers in the Class B north regional final on Wednesday at Alfond Arena at 6 pm.