AUBURN — The careers of the state’s best high school senior hockey players came to a close inside the Norway Savings Bank Arena on Saturday night.

Well, with the exception of four of them.

The second annual Winter Classic was held Saturday in Auburn, yet for South Portland’s Andrew Whipple, Falmouth’s Isac Nordstrom, Saint Dominic Academy’s Brad Berube and Lawrence/Skowhegan’s Cody Martin the remnants of a season’s worth of hockey will linger on for one more night.

Each is a finalist for the Travis Roy Award, which will be presented Sunday at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston. The banquet will begin at noon.

At least for a few hours Saturday night though, any anxiety the four were feeling about potentially winning a major award were gone and they were once again just high school hockey players.

“I really try not to think about it,” Nordstrom said. “I’ve finalized my speech and all that and read through it a couple times. I know I’m going to be pretty nervous tomorrow but right now I’m pretty happy we got the win.”

Added Berube: “Getting out there, playing with all the all-stars from the east and the west, it really clears your mind of everything that’s been going on (between) the states and Travis Roy (today).”

For Lawrence/Skowhegan teammates Andrew Carpenter, Trey Michonski, Adam Littlefield and Martin, it was also an opportunity to get one last time on the ice in a Bandits uniform.

“It was a ton of fun going out there playing with all the top seniors in the league and it was just a good time. Good to be back out there on the ice,” Carpenter said. “You’re playing with guys you know, one last time out there with the guys. Obviously our last game didn’t end how we would have liked it so it was fun to get back on the ice with them.”

For as fun as it was the game was also as equally competitive. St. Dominic’s Caleb Labrie scored to put the East ahead 6-5 with 2:53 to play in the contest, but Nordstrom tied the game up with a goal with 43.8 seconds remaining to force a three-player shootout.

Nordstrom and Bangor’s Nick Graham each converted in the first round, while Scarborough’s Sean McGovern found the back of the net to put the pressure on St. Dom’s Dillon Pratt in the second. A slap shot attempt from Pratt was off the mark, and Falmouth’s Jake Grade converted the ensuing attempt to seal a 7-6 win for the West.

In the loss Carpenter scored a pair of goals, while Michonski and Martin each had assists. Cony’s Spencer Buck had a strong game on defense and also picked up an assist.

The Class B game immediately followed the Class A game with a handful of locals representing the East. Messalonskee’s Jake Dexter and Elija Tuell each took part, while Winslow’s Keegan Cain, Alex Berard and Jake Larsen also participated. The squad was coached by Waterville’s Dennis Martin and Messalonskee’s Joe Hague.

Evan Crawley – 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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