WINSLOW — For Messalonskee, it was a frustrating tie. For Bangor, it was a hard-earned point.
For two periods, Saturday’s hockey game at Sukee Arena looked like it would be a smooth win for Messalonskee. Four Bangor goals in the third period, however, including two in the final minute, allowed Bangor to salvage the interclass tie.
“We had some breakdowns,” Messalonskee coach Joe Hague said. “We made a couple mistakes, and they capitalized.”
Trailing 4-2, Bangor called timeout with one minute left, and pulled goalie Derek Fournier. Nine seconds later, Cameron Burpee scored to pull the Rams (0-1-1) to within a goal, 4-3.
With 14 seconds left, Bangor tied the game on a Trevor DeLaite goal, his second of the game.
“A couple breakdowns will catch up to you,” Hague said.
Bangor trailed 3-0 heading into the third period. DeLaite’s first goal came 43 seconds into the third. Shot from the right boards, DeLaite’s odd angle shot beat Messalonskee freshman goalie Eli Michaud. At the 2:46 mark of the third, Bangor cut the deficit to 3-2 when Dan Webber’s slap shot from the top of the right circle went over Michaud’s right shoulder.
Messalonskee regained the two-goal cushion almost a minute later. Brandon Nale’s shot from the left circle beat Fournier, and the Eagles (1-0-1) had a 4-2 lead.
Messalonskee had the best scoring chance in overtime, but Dustin Brown’s breakaway shot went high right. Bangor closed overtime on a power play when Nale went off for cross checking, but the Rams were unable to capitalize.
Messalonskee scored 4:12 into the game. Nale took a pass from Jared Cunningham, skated right to left, and fired a high shot into an open net. While the Eagles controlled play throughout the period, they were unable to slip another puck past Bangor goalie Fournier, who made 11 of his 31 saves in the first.
Cunningham scored a pair of goals late in the second period to give the Eagles some breathing room. His goal at 11:02 gave Messalonskee a 2-0 lead. In the final minute, Cunningham took a pass from Nale and broke in alone on Fourier. When Fournier came out to challenge Cunningham, the Messalonskee sniper cut to his right and fired at a wide open net for a 3-0 lead at 14:43.
Michaud made the save of the night with two minutes to play in the second period. Cam Cota recovered a rebound in front of the net, but Michaud (26 saves) slid to his left to make the stop and preserve the then 2-0 lead.
“Their goalie kept them in the game,” Hague said. “I thought our goalie made some big saves, too, for a young kid.”
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
<URL destination=””>tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
</URL>Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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