Windham/Westbrook’s Gage Chenard came through for his squad in a big way on Saturday evening, Dec. 19, blasting an OT goal past Bonny Eagle/Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach keeper Kyle McKay to down the MOB 5-4 in sudden death.

“When you don’t play your best, and still get a win, it’s always a good day,” said Windham/Westbrook head coach Greg LeClair. “[Bonny Eagle/Massabesic/OOB] made us work for it.”

“They played good,” MOB head coach Loren Blair said of his own boys’ effort. “They battled back, down the whole game. They showed a lot of guts, that third period, dug deep.”

The MOB jumped out front early on a beautiful, unassisted goal: Bonny Eagle freshman Brandon Caron picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and – looking not just like a veteran, but like an ace – curled into Windham/Westbrook territory, where he snaked around defender Logan Heckman to earn a close one-on-one with senior goalie Alex LeBlanc. Caron won the duel neatly, faking right, then firing left. 1-0.

Windham/Westbrook answered almost immediately, however: Derek Corbett fed to Tyler Johnson and Johnson drove home a shot past McKay. The team’s next point, the 2-1 tally, came inside the last minute of the first. Matt Kelley, loitering between the MOB faceoff circles, picked up a sharp pass from the left side. Kelley needed just one motion to receive and another to fire.

Windham/Westbrook went up 3-1 four minutes into the second when defenseman David Redmond grabbed a nice pass across from Johnson, then let rip with a beastly slapshot from the point, beating McKay at the far top corner.

Six and a half minutes later, the MOB pulled within one again. Wyatt Blanchette dashed between a pair of Windham/Westbrookers and stole their pass, earning himself a breakaway. Completely alone with LeBlanc, he deked left and shot right for 3-2.

“We made some mistakes,” LeClair said, “and they turned into goals. We give up two breakaway goals. One on a bad pass; we look at it from a vision standpoint: The kid was sitting in a spot where he could get to that puck, and you’ve got to make the smart play, which is get it back in the corner and let our forecheck do what they’ve done – we were great on the forecheck tonight.”

All of 30 seconds later, Windham/Westbrook regained their two-goal advantage. Jacob Coro’s initial shot, in close and left of McKay, bounced out-right to Jack Gresh, who shoveled the rebound home with ease.

But a determined MOB finished the second by clawing closer yet again. AJ Cates fed to Caron at the right point, and Caron fed forward to Tanner McClure; McClure needed a split second to get his stickblade firmly on the puck, but when he did, he pin-pointed a shot between LeBlanc and the left post. 4-3.

“We’re a young team,” Blair said of his squad’s struggle to keep pace. “We’ve got two seniors. This is something that comes with having a young team, but they didn’t give up.”

LeClair applauded the opposition. “That team, we’re going to hear some things from them in the next couple years. They’ve got some young, very, very good talent. Caron is quarterbacking the powerplay as a freshman. Tanner McClure is a stud; he’s been scoring goals against us for years now. He’s a junior, but it seems like he’s been here for five years. Loren has them playing well.”

The majority of the third passed without score. The MOB caught a huge break with around two minutes to play, when Windham/Westbrook ‘s Alec Whalen earned a minor – his third of the game – for hooking. The MOB set up a solid attacking perimeter, and pulled McKay to the bench for a six-men-to-four advantage. The team patiently worked the puck around, then finally generated a shot and a rebound, which Caron snatched up near the top of the faceoff circle and fired as a low slapper past LeBlanc for a tie game.

Twenty seconds later, Caron nearly gave the MOB their first lead and a likely win, picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone and breaking into Windham/Westbrook territory. Another time, Caron’s stick wizardry would’ve earned him a one-on-one opportunity, but on this go-round, Windham/Westbrook defenseman Greg Buotte won the matchup, forcing Caron off the puck.

Caron pulled a last-second interference minor to close out regulation, meaning the MOB began OT a man down – a turn of events that proved fatal. Just 1:18 into sudden death, Chenard fired the winning shot from 15 feet out-right, beating McKay low and ending the game.

“It’s tough to get a penalty going into overtime,” said Blair, mulling over the result. “And we’ve got to do better on faceoffs; we’ve got to win that draw, we’ve got to mark up out front of the net. Our goalie made the first save. But I’m proud of them.”

Windham-Westbrook jumped to 3-0 on the result; the team hosted South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete on Wednesday the 23rd, after Current Publishing’s print deadlines. Bonny Eagle/Massabesic/OOB moved to 2-4; the MOB traveled to York on Tuesday the 22nd.

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The MOB’s Tanner McClure cuts close to Windham/Westbrook goalie Alex LeBlanc.Windham/Westbrook defenseman Greg Buotte (20) and goalie Alex LeBlanc fight off MOB pressure.The MOB’s Spencer Shields tracks close to Windham/Westbrook’s Greg Buotte, breaking out of his team’s zone with the puck.Windham/Westbrook’s Matt Kelley faces down MOB opponent Tyler Ouellette in the neutral zone.Windham/Westbrook’s Tyler Johnson tallied a goal and an assist against the MOB on Saturday evening.The MOB’s Travis Marsh charges in on Windham/Westbrook’s David Redmond.Windham/Westbrook celebrates their OT win with their fan section.