Falmouth’s boys’ hockey team shows off the Dudley Cup after Saturday’s 4-1 win over Greely. The Yachtsmen won the Cup for the first time in four years.
FALMOUTH—Entering play Saturday afternoon, no player on Falmouth’s boys’ hockey team had beaten Greely in the rivals’ annual Dudley Cup game.
And when Rangers junior Alex Wallace scored 16 seconds into the contest, it appeared that trend might continue, but Yachtsmen senior Owen Drummey had other ideas.
And as a result, Falmouth capped its season with a flourish.
Drummey tied the game later in the first half and after having a goal waved off in the second half, Drummey put the Yachtsmen ahead to stay before completing his hat trick and if that wasn’t enough, he added another goal into an empty net in the waning moments and Falmouth went on to a 4-1 victory.
The Yachtsmen beat the Rangers for the first time in four years and finished the unorthodox season 5-6, while ending Greely’s year at 7-4 in the process.
“This felt like a championship win,” Drummey said. “The seniors hadn’t won the Dudley Cup yet, so this was awesome. Every time we play Greely, it’s a fun battle to play against the kids next door. We’ve been behind before, but the leadership on this team knew what it took to battle back. We worked hard. It was a great win.”
Cup runneth over
Falmouth and Greely have long shared Family Ice Center, as well as status as two of the state’s best programs and on New Year’s Day, the Rangers and Yachtsmen annually do battle in the Dudley Cup.
That game wasn’t able to be held on that date this year, as the start of the winter sports season was delayed by COVID-19, which also shortened the schedule and eliminated the postseason.
Regardless, Falmouth and Greely have made the most of their limited time on the ice this winter.
The Rangers opened by defeating host St. Dom’s (5-1), visiting Cheverus/Yarmouth (4-1), Gorham (3-1), Falmouth (5-3) and host Cheverus/Yarmouth (7-4). Greely then sandwiched losses at Class A power Edward Little (4-2) and defending Class A champion Lewiston (3-0) around a 3-1 home victory over Brunswick. Tuesday, Greely held off visiting Gorham, 5-4, but Wednesday, the Rangers lost at home to Cape Elizabeth, 5-2.
Falmouth lost at reigning Class A champion Lewiston in its opener, 7-3, then defeated Portland/Deering (4-1) and Cheverus/Yarmouth (5-2). After a 5-3 loss at Greely, the Yachtsmen downed visiting Gorham (6-0) and host St. Dom’s (7-2), then fell at Edward Little (5-3), at home to Portland/Deering (6-5, in overtime), at North Yarmouth Academy (12-5) and at Cheverus/Yarmouth (3-2).
In the teams’ first meeting Feb. 20, junior Evan Dutil scored two goals to pace the Rangers to victory.
Saturday, Greely hoped to beat the Yachtsmen for the fifth straight meeting, but Falmouth was able to turn the tables and beat the Rangers for the first time since a 6-2 victory Jan. 2, 2017.
It sure didn’t look like it would go that way when the game began, however.
Just 16 seconds in, during an initial Greely surge, Wallace got the puck in front, had his first shot saved by Falmouth senior goalie Nic Langdon, but stayed with it and swept the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead. Dutil and junior Ryan Moore were credited with an assist.
That was the good news for the Rangers.
The bad news was that Wallace was hit hard on the play and as he fell, he hit his head on the ice. After a couple of minutes, Wallace was able to get up and skate off the ice, but he wasn’t able to return to the contest.
“I feel really badly for Alex,” said longtime Greely coach Barry Mothes. “That was an unfortunate moment. I’m glad he’s going to be OK. He took a pretty hard knock. Having him not be able to return hurt. He’s a high-speed, energy forward. He loves big games as much as anybody. It killed him to have to leave the game and watch.”
The goal served as a wakeup call for Falmouth, which began to pressure Rangers sophomore goalie Keji Wiessner, but the Yachtsmen would be left frustrated.
After junior Dominic Tracy had a shot saved by Wiessner, it was Drummey’s turn to be stymied, not once, but twice.
After Wiessner denied sophomore Mitchell Ham following a turnover, Wiessner made a blocker save on a Tracy shot, robbed Drummey on a breakaway, saved a backhanded bid from junior Charlie Adams, then denied sophomore Aaron Higgins.
Finally, with 11:04 left in the 23-minute first half, Drummey was able to get to a rebound of a Higgins shot and send it past Wiessner to tie the score, 1-1. Sophomore Cam Charron was also credited with an assist.
“That goal was huge,” Drummey said. “Their goalie played lights out and was tough to score on. I was lucky to get a shot on net and get that in.”
“I think we were ready,” said Falmouth coach Deron Barton. “(Greely’s goal) was just a crazy bounce off the first shift. They came at us hard and I knew they would. The puck ended up squirreling around and they made a nice play, but today, that wasn’t going to make a difference.”
Late in the first half, Higgins missed just wide, Wiessner denied Ham, stopped a shot from Adams and a rebound from freshman TJ Rhoads.
At the other end, Langdon made saves on senior Tyler Grasky after a turnover, junior Cam Mallette, senior Luke Stetson and Dutil.
Falmouth finished the first half with a 20-9 shots advantage, but 19 saves from Wiessner kept the game deadlocked, 1-1, at the break.
For much of the second half, the Rangers were able to continue to hold the Yachtsmen at bay, but eventually, Drummey put Falmouth on top for good.
The second half almost began as a carbon copy of the first, as Moore had a great look at the goal in the opening seconds, but Langdon came up big and made the save.
Junior Spencer Osgood, who, in a continuation of a season-long theme, came in to play goalie for the Rangers to start the second half, passed his initial tests as well, denying Higgins, Charron and Drummey.
With 15:28 left, Dutil nearly put Greely on top with a wrap-around attempt, but Langdon made the save.
After Osgood twice robbed Adams, the Yachtsmen appeared to go on top with 14:03, as on a rush, Drummey somehow fought his way through two defenders and steered the puck past Osgood and in, but the goal was waved off as it was ruled that Drummey kicked the puck into the goal.
Undaunted, Falmouth continued to pressure and after Osgood saved shots from Higgins and Ham, Drummey scored a goal that did count with 6:46 to play.
Drummey got the puck from Adams and beat Osgood with a blast the bounced off the inside of the far post and in for a 2-1 lead.
“I just went out there and kept working hard,” Drummey said. “I kept peppering the goalie and getting shots on net. One of the bounces were bound to go in. I kind of used a defenseman as a screen because the goalie had seen everything. I changed it up and put it in.”
“I had a feeling we’d score,” Barton said. “I could see the ice tilting. I hoped to get the next one and then it would lighten up for us and it did.”
Greely pushed for the equalizer, but Langdon saved a shot from freshman Charlie Moore, then Dutil skated in, but lost control of the puck at the last moment.
Then, with 2:25 to play, on a rush, Drummey completed his hat trick, with Adams again getting an assist, and the Yachstmen had 3-1 lead and a little breathing room.
“I wasn’t really focused on a hat trick,” Drummey said. “We wanted a third goal to go up two. It was nice to get a hat trick. A nice way to finish out my four years here.”
“Owen’s hanging two, three, four goals a game,” Barton said. “He’s a special player who makes everybody better on the ice and in the locker room. He’s just a great kid and a great hockey player.”
With 1:47 left, Mothes called timeout and pulled Osgood in a desperate attempt to get back in the game, but 28 seconds later, it backfired, as Langdon passed to Higgins, who tapped the puck over to Drummey, who looked up ice, saw an empty net and to no one’s surprise, he capped his sensational game with his fourth goal to clinch it.
“I just kind of aimed because I knew I wouldn’t beat the defenseman, so I just shot it and hoped it went in,” Drummey said.
Falmouth ran out the clock from there, then celebrated with gusto its first Dudley Cup in four years.
“It’s a good rivalry and it was a good hockey game,” Barton said. “The kids played well on both sides. Their goalies played incredibly well, but we got the bounces. I’m happy for the kids. It’s been a weird season. Every game has been a challenge. To have it end like this is special.”
“Not only my kids, but all the kids who are playing high school hockey in Maine have had to adapt to all kinds of different things. All the games we’ve had this year were special games. We’ll look back and say it was a special year and that we learned a lot as players and coaches. It was a season of patience. Patience with the players. Patience with yourself. Expectations are high every year and it’s hard to turn that off.”
In a game that didn’t see a single penalty, the Yachtsmen out-shot the Rangers, 36-21, and got 20 saves from Langdon.
Greely got 19 saves from Wiessner and 13 from Osgood, but was held scoreless after its first minute goal.
“Keji in the first half and Spencer in the second half were outstanding,” Mothes said. “They’ve been great all year and gave us a chance to win this game. Our defense faced a lot of pressure. Falmouth’s top line particularly has a lot of speed. We hung in there and we battled. We had some chances too, but Falmouth played a strong defensive game and their goalie made some big saves. It was a hard-fought high school hockey game that was fast-paced. I told the guys if that was going to be my last high school game, I’d rather have a game like that and deal with a loss than play in a lopsided game.
“I’m very thankful we could do anything at all this year. To play 11 games was great. Selfishly, I’d like another 10 or 12 or more. I feel with another month of practicing together, we’d be well-primed to get better. I’m proud of our effort. We won seven games and we played good hockey against good teams.”
Looking back, looking ahead
Greely loses five seniors from this year’s roster, including some key contributors from championship teams, but as always, the Rangers will be on the short list of favorites when the 2021-22 season begins.
“Hopefully the young guys got a little taste of the excitement of high school varsity hockey,” Mothes said. “They learned a lot. We have a good nucleus of returning guys. It’s hard to say goodbye to a great group of seniors who have been a big part of our success. I’m thankful they had a chance to put the jersey on and represent the team and the school as much as they did.”
As for Falmouth, it loses Drummey, Langdon and three others to graduation, but like Greely, the Yachtsmen will have the pieces in place to do special things next year.
“We have a great future,” said Drummey. “We have tons of young talent coming up. The juniors and sophomores and freshmen have experience now. I can’t wait to see what they can do in the future.”
“Drummey will be a big loss, but I have some good underclassmen and I’m excited about them for next season,” Barton said. “I think we’ll be back in the mix next year.”
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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