Cheverus/Yarmouth celebrates with the trophy after beating John Bapst, 5-1, in the Class B boys hockey state championship game on Saturday at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Excellence on faceoffs sometimes gets overlooked when analyzing a hockey team’s success. But the importance of Quinn McCoy’s skill at the faceoff dot was obvious Saturday as Cheverus/Yarmouth won its second straight Class B state championship.

Shortly after his team scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, the senior set up two more goals by winning consecutive faceoffs. Suddenly, Cheverus/Yarmouth had a three-goal lead, and it went on to a 5-1 victory over John Bapst/Hermon/Bangor Christian/Deer-Isle Stonington at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

“We’ve been doing a good job all year,” Cheverus/Yarmouth coach David St. Pierre said. “I think our winning percentage (on faceoffs) is well over 50. And, yeah, (McCoy) just did a really great job tonight, almost sprung a couple of (breakaways) there on faceoffs in the neutral zone. But, yeah, he’s a senior captain, and he did what he had to do.”

Cheverus/Yarmouth (19-2-1) defenseman Colby Carnes said McCoy drives the offense.

“I mean, he’s great,” Carnes said. “He’s one of the best centers in the league, by far. So it’s just such a treat to have him on offense with us. He finds every play. He’s just a really good player.”

After Matthew Paradis gave Cheverus/Yarmouth a 2-1 lead with a wraparound tally early in the third period, McCoy helped seal the win when he won a draw back to Colby Carnes, who ripped a shot past goalie Camden Leighton at the 5:35 mark.

“I mean, it felt amazing,” Carnes said. “Just put a puck on the net, wasn’t really expecting it to go in, but a goal is a goal. It felt great, so it was huge for us.”

McCoy then won the draw at center ice to defender Owen Cheever, who rushed into the offensive end and fired a shot into the goal seven seconds after Carnes’ tally.

“I mean, third period’s been our best period all year, it seems like,” McCoy said. “I just knew if I got it over to Owen, he’d get it to the point, and then, our defense has always buried it all year.”

Carnes scored a minute later, again assisted by McCoy, for a 5-1 advantage.

“I mean, it’s great to end my hockey career, it really couldn’t go any better,” McCoy said. “I’m so proud to be a part of this team.”

That margin gave St. Pierre a chance to insert both of his backup goaltenders, Braydon Fitch and Johnny Wallace, as each got a few minutes on the ice. Starting goalie Ethan Tucker made 28 saves.

“That’s part of the emotional response that I have to this team is, you know, those two guys, Braydon and Johnny, work so hard in practice,” St. Pierre said. “They make us better as a team because of that. And to be able to give them an opportunity to taste a little bit of this game was just awesome. And that’s a credit to the team in front of them that gave them that opportunity. And I just wanted to make sure that they had that opportunity on the ice, and I’m so happy for them.”

Matthew Reed opened the scoring for Cheverus/Yarmouth in the first period when he converted a cross-ice pass from Cheever.

The Crusaders evened the contest later in the first period when Cooper Lewis fired the puck toward the goal and Will Bourgeois redirected it into the net.

John Bapst had a golden opportunity to grab the lead heading into the third period, but Tucker stopped two shots from point-blank range late in the second.

Then Cheverus/Yarmouth took control in the third period.

“I mean, there’s always pressure,” Carnes said. “We were coming in as the one seed, which is always a big thing. So, especially with back-to-back on the line, it was a lot of pressure there, but yeah, we pulled it out, which was nice.”

After the fifth goal, Leighton (19 saves) got pulled in favor of Trenton Zetes (five saves). John Bapst (19-2-1) coach Devin Fitzpatrick declined to speak after the game.