WINSLOW — Trey Michonski curled back along the blue line, took the puck and faked a shot as a defender went down for a block.
The Skowhegan freshman forward then saw an opening …
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“I saw a corner open,” Michonski said. “I saw top left so I went for the shot, blocker side.”
The puck sailed past screened Gray-New Gloucester/Poland goalie Calvin Shelley to give Skowhegan a 2-1 win Friday night in an Eastern A prelim game.
“It was exciting,” said Michonski, who scored both Skowhegan goals. “It’s just an awesome feeling.”
No. 8 Skowhegan (8-9-2) advances to play top-seeded Lewiston (13-4-1) in a quarterfinal game at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
No. 9 Gray-New Gloucester/Poland, which led 1-0 after the first period, finished 3-16-0. Evan Baggs scored the Knights’ lone goal.
“It’s just so cool,” Skowhegan coach Jeff Fowler said. “Skowhegan has never won a playoff hockey game. The game could’ve gone either way. They were deserving, and we were deserving.”
And it is the Indians, who last reached the playoffs in 2002, moving on.
Sam Edmondson stopped 20 shots while Chase Nelson and Anne Marie Provencal each had an assist for Skowhegan.
“It was such an adrenaline rush,” Edmondson said “Everyone was going crazy when it was over.”
It certainly didn’t come easy for the Indians, who trailed 1-0 after the first period but finally pulled even late in the second on Michonski’s first goal.
Michonski took a long pass from Provencal near center ice and raced in alone on Shelley. The freshman forward faked the backhand before pulling back a bit and roofing the puck past Shelley on his forehand with 1:07 left in the second.
“Anne Marie hit me with a pass and I went down and did a move that I’ve worked on in practice,” Michonski said.
Added Fowler: “Our kids were getting frustrated, but we waited them out. Of all the people I want to see on a breakaway, it’s Trey.”
Skowhegan had ample chances to jump out front early but it would be Gray-New Gloucester/Poland that would strike first with a power play goal just 5:28 into the first period.
The Patriotic Knights peppered Edmondson with two shots from in close before senior forward Baggs pounced on a loose puck and buried a high shot to the far post for a 1-0 lead.
But Gray-New Gloucester/Poland couldn’t protect the lead late.
“Just like our season, we had bad some bad bounces,” Gray-New Gloucester/Poland coach Aaron Rand said. “It was tough, but we didn’t expect to get in (to the playoffs). We had planned for it, but we didn’t know a lot about Skowhegan.”
Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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