Generally speaking, when a No. 1 seed hosts a No. 8 seed in the playoffs, the No. 1 seed is thought of as the favorite.

That, however, was not the case when the eighth-ranked Biddeford Tigers came to the USM Ice Arena to take on top-seeded Gorham. In the wacky world of tiered scheduling in Western Maine hockey, the Rams finished atop the Class A West Heal Point standings with a 17-1 record. The Tigers were 8-8-2.

But the two teams played completely different schedules. Gorham, coming off a rough season a year ago, got a Tier III schedule against weaker teams. Biddeford, the two-time defending state champs, played the best teams night in and night out, given their Tier I schedule.

So when Biddeford topped Gorham 5-2 in Tuesday night’s quarterfinal, no one was shocked. It was expected.

Rams senior David Gushee scored both goals for his team, adding to his state-leading goals and points total. He ended the season with 44 goals and 19 assists for 63 points.

Gushee’s first score came with 11.1 seconds remaining in the first period. It tied the game at 1-1 after Biddeford’s Cam Madore scored the opening goal with 2:03 remaining in the first (assisted by from Trevor Fleurent and Craig Anton). Gushee broke in, spun around with a defender on him, and fired a shot past Tiger goalie Cody Petit.

“He came down, beat one of our defensemen, made a great move inside,” said Biddeford coach Rich Reissfelder, who noted that his team’s game plan centered on preventing Gushee from getting the puck in open ice.

“Our defense actually played him pretty well. Nick Fitzgerald had him pretty well. But he was able to spin, still knew where the puck was, knew where the net was, and was still able to bury it. I just shook my head and said, ‘Alright, we’ll give him that one.’ I mean, what can you do? He’s an animal out there. He’s strong, fast and can shoot. I’m glad he’s a senior.”

Gushee admitted even he wasn’t sure where the shot would end up.

“I held the stick in the opposite hand,” he said. “I had no clue what I was doing. I saw the net and just went for it, took a low shot. Always shoot low if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re off balance, shoot low and you might get a rebound. But it went in. I had a little luck.”

The Tigers found themselves in a similar position in a prelim game with No. 9 Westbrook on Saturday – tied 1-1 until late in the first period. They went on to score the game’s final nine goals in a 10-1 rout. Madore said the team wasn’t too concerned between periods. While Gushee’s goal took away some momentum, the Tigers remained confident.

“We knew Gushee was going to get a few because he’s a phenomenal player, so it didn’t really bother us at all,” Madore said. “We just knew that we had to get the first one in the second period and keep piling it on.”

Biddeford regained the lead early in the second period as Fleurent knocked in a goal from the right side of the net, assisted by Madore, at 2:35. A mere 16 seconds later, Biddeford pushed it to a two-goal cushion as Anton converted a feed from Madore.

“That was huge for us,” Reissfelder said. “They’d been running two lines predominantly all night. Being able to get those two like that while they’re still winded and tired, I thought that was great. We were running three lines at that point.”

While Biddeford’s superior depth allowed it to control play throughout the majority of the game, Gushee kept the Rams in it, scoring a shorthanded goal (assisted by Sean Grandmaison) with 8:11 remaining in the second, making it 3-2. He controlled the pass and broke in all alone on Petit, using a nifty move to slide the puck past the goalie. He was also slashed in the back on the play by Biddeford’s Joey White, who received a five-minute major.

The Rams, however, were not able to capitalize (they were 0 for 5 on the power play). Biddeford scored a shorthanded goal with 5:57 left in the second as Madore left a pretty pass for Fleurent, who put in the net to make it 4-2 entering the third period.

The Tigers added their final score on a power play with 2:54 left in the game. Fleurent finished off the hat trick, assisted by Derek Reny and Nick Gagne.

The Tigers move on to face No. 4 St. Dom’s in Saturday’s semifinals at the Colisee in Lewiston.

Gushee said he would have preferred to play teams of Biddeford’s caliber during the regular season.

“It’s good to get out there and compete with the better teams,” Gushee said. “I wish we had done that all year. We could have. I know we could have played with the better teams. I wish we did, but it didn’t happen that way because we didn’t have a good year last year. Hopefully people will take us a bit more seriously in the future.”

The 17-2 final record and the top seed don’t mean much when you don’t play other top teams, Gushee said.

“We got a good seed, but that’s not what it’s about,” he said. “It’s about playing good teams. It’s not about wins and losses. It’s all about proving yourself to everybody, and most importantly to yourself. I think we got to do that a little bit tonight. They were coaching the whole way through. It’s not like they had to let up and stop scoring on us. We were giving it to them the whole way.”

Biddeford has won 10 straight playoff games going back three season.

“It’s a confidence factor they have going in,” said Reissfelder, in his first year as coach of the Tigers. “They know they’ve been here. It’s great to have in a group of kids that have seen so many playoff games. It’s a huge advantage.”

And while the Tigers are better than their No. 8 seed suggests, Reissfelder said the Rams were no pushover.

“I don’t understand the Heal Points. I don’t know how they do them. But they’re a scrappy team. Their goalie played fantastic,” Reissfelder said. “We felt we controlled the play pretty well. It was just a matter of sneaking something by him.”

Freshman Nate Holloran made 20 saves in net for Gorham.

“He was excellent,” Madore said. “He played really well, but everyone lets up some. We kept them coming.”

Gorham graduates only three seniors from the squad: Gushee, Ian Ryan and Jake Viel.