Thornton Academy Beats Kents Hill 3-2 for Class A Hockey State Title

The Thornton Academy Golden Trojans beat Kents Hill 3-2 in the Class A State Hockey Championship on Saturday, March 8th.

Thanks to Adrian Ellingwood, our Special High School Hockey Correspondent for the recap.

On Saturday, March 8, the #3 Thornton Academy Golden Trojans took on the #4 Kents Hill Huskies in the Class A Hockey State Championship Game. In their first season in Class A, the Huskies certainly made a name for themselves, but ultimately fell short to a very strong Thornton Academy team.

Kents Hill went on the power play with 6:49 remaining in the opening period, their first real chance of the game. The Huskies capitalized on the man-advantage, with Nathan Roy giving Kents Hill the lead, assisted by Antoine Morin. 5:50 remained in the opening period.

Thornton Academy had a quick response to the Kents Hill goal, leveling the score within two minutes. Brady Pecora scored, with an assist from Gavin Pellerin, and 4:46 remained in the opening period. The score remained tied after the end of the first period.

Early in the second period, the Trojans had their first power play of the game, and took the lead. Cam Cyr made the score 2-1 with a power play goal just a minute and forty-five seconds into the period. Cyr was sent to the box later in the period, giving the Huskies a power play, but the penalty killers bailed him out, and held onto the lead going into the second intermission.

Similar to the start of the second period, Thornton Academy scored within two minutes. 5 seconds into a power play, Trent Lesieur gave the Trojans a 3-1 lead, assisted by Brady Pecora after 1:04 had elapsed from the period.

With 7:42 remaining in regulation the Trojans penalty killers killed off a crucial two minutes, retaining the two-goal lead. As the Huskies remained down by two, they pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker with over four minutes to go. This proved to be the right decision, as it took a full two minutes to get within one goal. Mathis Moreau scored after the puck took a huge bounce off of the end boards to the front of the net, where he taped it in. Just 2:17 remained in a 3-2 game.

As the Huskies continued to play with an extra attacker, they took a costly penalty with 49 seconds remaining. Unable to get any chances shorthanded, the clock eventually ran out, and Thornton Academy came away with its third hockey state championship in three seasons.

Kents Hill finished their first season in Class A with a record of 13-8-1. Thornton Academy ends the season at 18-3-1, and takes home a 4th state championship in school history.

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