LEWISTON — When historical high school hockey powerhouses in Maine are discussed, St. Dominic is always on the tip of the tongue.
With 24 state titles to point to, it has to be.
St. Dom’s last won the state title in 2000, however, which makes it ancient history.
Which is to say that the Saints’ impending appearance in the Class A state championship game against defending champs Thornton Academy at the Colisee is a chance for the school to recapture a bit of dated glory.
“That’s our goal,” said St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette. “I know we’ve been stuck there for a little while. But we’re getting back to that show again. And that’s what we want.”
The Saints are three years removed from their last kick at the title, when it fell to another old power, Waterville.
Seeded No. 3 in the East, they made it back this year by upending No. 2 Bangor in the semifinal, followed by Tuesday’s 1-0 stunner against No. 1 Lewiston (the Saints’ bitter cross-town rival), in the regional final staged before a jammed to the rafters throng at the Colisee.
“It came down to a couple things,” said Ouellette. “We won a lot of physical battles in such a physical game. But I think a big part of our season has been our great senior leadership. Our team’s very tight, and we’ve grown a lot, so it’s really worked out well. Some guys stepped up big this year.”
The Saints’ top five scorers this year were all seniors, a group led by speedster Spencer Martin, who is a Travis Roy Award semifinalist.Forwards Cody Rodrigue, Danny Nadeau and Chris Finlay, as well as Martin, all hit double-digits in goal scoring.
And even though the Thornton attack is averaging better than seven goals per game since mid-January, Ouellette said he feels that his club can keep up with the Golden Trojans.
Outscoring them, on the other hand, could be a more daunting task.
“It’s not a skating issue,” said Ouellette. “We can certainly skate with TA. They’re obviously a very experienced group with a lot of precision and very explosive. You can’t just focus on one guy.”
Thornton won both regular season meetings by hefty 8-1 and 6-2 margins, although the rematch was still close early in the third period before Thornton put the game away.
“Hopefully,” said Ouellete, “mistakes that we made that opened up the game for them won’t be there.
“Like I said, it won’t be a skating issue.”
Advance tickets for Saturday’s championship game can be purchased at the Thornton Academy athletic office, located in Linnell Gymnasium, today from 2-4 p.m.
— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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