Jared Wood’s two goals in the Class B West Final last Wednesday night helped vault his Rams past their Greely opposition and into Saturday afternoon’s State Championship – but come that bout, they faced Maine’s toughest offense in Messalonskee, and couldn’t keep up. Tucker Buteau scored early to keep Gorham even, but the Eagles soon pulled away, ultimately taking the title 6-1.

“We played hard for two periods,” Gorham head coach Jon Portwine said of the State Final, “but eventually that offense is going to catch up with you.”

Both games took place at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston. Gorham finishes their season at 17-4.

End-to-end action boiled away the first period of the B West Final, though both teams generated numerous beautiful looks. Gorham’s Carl Bear, for instance, intercepted a Greely attempt to clear around 4:17, and immediately fired off an unobstructed wrister from between the points. Both teams’ goaltenders, however – the Rangers’ Kyle Kramlich and the Rams’ Justin Broy – stood their ground, evidently impervious.

“I told the guys before the game that tonight was personal,” Portwine said. “I wanted this to be the one that counted.”

The first part of the second burned off much like the previous 15 minutes had. But the stalemate couldn’t hold indefinitely. About seven minutes in, Gorham’s William Baxter threw a spectacular, successful diving pokecheck across the ice to interrupt a would-be Greely one-on-one with Broy – and he didn’t even draw a tripping call.

Seconds later, though, he did get in trouble for cross-checking, and the Rams went down a man. It took the Rangers just over a minute, but they managed to score. Reid Howland dribbled the puck nimbly around a defender, fired a hard shot for a ruthless Broy counter; Miles Shields picked up the rebound, though, and centered to Tommy Thompson, whom Broy couldn’t quite handle. 1-0.

Wood tied it up roughly five minutes later; his off-angle shot from near the left faceoff dot beat Kramlich prettily for 1-1.

Carl Bear pushed the Rams ahead 2-1 early in the third, picking up a loose puck near the right point and cutting forward a few strides before pulling the trigger on a wrister to beat Kramlich for 2-1.

“I didn’t think we had a good week of practice coming into tonight,” Portwine said. “But the guys brought energy.”

Bear almost immediately took a hooking minor, however, giving the Rangers an opportunity to fight back. Howland, assisted by Thompson and Joe Saffian, capitalized. 2-2, and the teams found themselves almost back at square one.

With just 5:06 remaining, Wood snatched the puck from some chaos out front and beat Kramlich again for the advantage. “[The puck] went over to Andrew [Schmidt],” said Wood, describing the melee. “He took a shot, it bounced off Kyle. It landed at Tucker [Buteau]’s feet, I was able to see it, just backhanded it. [Kramlich] wasn’t able to get to it.”

From there, Gorham needed only hold on – which they did, even adding an empty-netter late for a 4-2 final.

“Certainly, at the end of the game, the puck bounced our way,” Portwine said.

The Rams, one-seed in the West, had dethroned the reigning State Champs. Next up: their own shot at the crown. In their way: Messalonskee, No. 1 in the East at 20-0.

The game proved less of a nailbiter, though. It remained close throughout the first, yes – at 2:59, the Eagles’ Dylan Burton slipped a wrister through a tangle of bodies and past Broy, and 46 seconds later, Buteau chopped a bouncing puck past Messalonskee’s Ben Weeks to tie the tally at 1-all. But the play hadn’t looked entirely even, and it would soon turn worse for the Rams.

“I think we tried to make adjustments to their break-out,” said Portwine. “[But] I’m not sure the guys reacted quick enough. There’s not a whole lot more I can say. It’s a high-powered offense.”

Actually, Gorham dashed onto the ice looking more revved up in the second. Having played a good deal of dump-and-chase hockey in the first, they forced a bit more of that approach onto Messalonskee now. They couldn’t convert that momentum into a lead, however, and all too soon, the Eagles took over.

Jared Cunningham beat Broy at 9:41 to set the score at 2-1, and although the Rams followed up with heavy pressure, they failed to pull even. Four minutes on, a Gorham defensive hangup – two players bounced into each other along the boards – turned the puck over for Chase Cunningham, who swooped deftly in and around Broy for 3-1.

The action clearly threw Gorham off its game, and a rattling collision that sent Wood off the ice for a long stretch couldn’t have helped.

In the final minute of the second, the Rams did seem to regain their composure: Of course they weren’t out of the game, not yet.

“You try to slow ’em down, try to make it a little more physical,” Portwine said of prepping to deal with such a strong offense. “You try to take away the things they do really well.

“I thought, for the most part, the first and second period, we did that. You try to take away that third man high in the offensive zone; we really shut that down. That’s why we were able to keep it close through two.”

But with 12 to play in the third, Condon inched Messalonskee still further ahead, 4-1. Three minutes later, he did it again, 5-1. And four minutes after that, Josh Towle cemented the 6-1 outcome.

Gorham’s Jordan Ward dumps the puck on the attack against Greely Wednesday night.Rams Shawn Sullivan (37) and Tucker Buteau (13) push forward on the attack, while defending Ranger John Wright faces down Sullivan.Rams Travis Mansir (20) and Carl Bear (8) cut left in synchrony after Mansir shunts the puck away.Gorham’s Jared Wood (27) rips a shot toward the Greely net; Ranger John Wright lunges in an attempt to deflect the puck.Senior Ram Tucker Buteau (13) leaps into his linemates – including William Baxter (26) and Shawn Sullivan (37) – as Gorham celebrates Jared Wood’s (buried in the pile) game-tying goal in the late second period.Jared Wood (27) faces the crowd to celebrate his lead-taking goal against Greely Wednesday night.Gorham’s Austin Violette needs to keep one eye on his Greely counterpart, Joe Saffian, while also watching the distant action.Ram Tucker Buteau grins as he approaches to receive his individual award following Gorham’s victory in the Western Maine Class B Final against Greely.The Rams hoist their B West Championship plaque.Gorham’s Drew Eid passes forward as Messalonskee’s Dana Michaud crashes forward for the check.Messalonskee skaters swarm Gorham’s Shawn Sullivan, limiting his options.Gorham’s Travis Mansir matches strides with Messalonskee’s Samuel Bell.Gorham’s Jordan Ward lines up before a faceoff.Struggling with emotion, Tucker Buteau holds up the Class B runners-up plaque for his fan contingent to see.