John Bapst Beats Hampden Academy 3-2 in Boy’s Hockey
The John Bapst Crusaders beat Hampden Academy 3-2 in Class B North Hockey on Wednesday, February 19th. Thanks to our special High School Hockey Correspondent Adrian Ellingwood, here's the recap
On Wednesday, the 19th of February, the John Bapst Crusaders and the Hampden Academy Broncos met at Sawyer Arena for the second time in as many days. After a convincing 3-0 victory last time out, the Crusaders swept the season series with another win against the Broncos.
A fast paced first period saw both teams have opportunities, but no goals for most of it. That was, until the Crusaders broke the deadlock with just 29 seconds to go. Cooper Lewis’s second goal in as many games gave John Bapst a late 1-0 lead in the first period.
Despite a lackluster power play to open the period, the Broncos continued to put the pressure on the Bapst defenders. Just under four minutes in, Hampden was able to tie the game. Miles Shields scored with an assist from Boston Merrow off of a delayed penalty. The goal came with 11:02 left in the second period, and the game was tied 1-1.
With just under six minutes remaining in the second period, Lucas Dunn thought he had given the Broncos the lead when he celebrated as if he had scored, but the goal was waved off as the refs lost sight of the puck. The score would remain 1-1 after 30 minutes of play.
John Bapst answered the Hampden equalizer with just over a minute elapsed from the final period. Will Bourgeois’ goal gave the Crusaders a 2-1 lead with 13:41 left in regulation.
With 11:33 to play, the Crusaders went on the power play with Boston Merrow in the box, but were unable to capitalize on it. This proved to be costly, as just a few seconds after his penalty expired, Merrow found himself on a breakaway, and fired the puck past the goaltender to tie the game once again. 11:18 remained in regulation.
With 3:18 left in regulation, Hampden went shorthanded again, and the penalty killers didn’t have as much luck this time. Owen Hart gave John Bapst a 3-2 lead with 2:13 remaining.
The Broncos were able to get the puck into the offensive zone, force a stoppage, and call a timeout. Less than two minutes remained at this point, and Hampden would bring on the extra attacker with just over a minute remaining. The Broncos defense did a good job at keeping the puck out of the empty net, but that didn’t matter as the Crusaders closed out a second victory in as many days.
John Bapst is now 14-1-1, and will move up to 1st place in the Class B North Heal Point Standings. The Crusaders next game will be on Thursday at 3:00 at home against Brewer, before they finish the regular season with a home game against Houlton/Hodgdon. Hampden remains in 4th place with a record of 9-7-1, and will finish the season on Thursday against Old Town/Orono. That will be a 7:30 pm start time at the Alfond Arena.
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