LEWISTON — Every lead the Biddeford boys’ hockey team got in Tuesday night’s Class A South final against Cheverus was short-lived.
Except for the last one at the Colisee.
Colin Petit scored 6:25 into the second overtime to give the Tigers a 6-5 win and a trip to Saturday’s Class A state title game against two-time defending champion Lewiston, which defeated St. Dominic 2-1 in overtime in the North final.
The top-seeded Stags quickly matched Biddeford’s first four goals before grabbing their first lead with 1:12 left in the third period.
But Cheverus didn’t get to stay on top for long either.
Trevor Ouellette scored for the No. 3 Tigers with 31.9 seconds left to tie the score 5-5.
“We didn’t panic – we’ve done that before,” Colin Petit said of the one-goal deficit late in the third. “We’re just a resilient group and we showed it tonight.”
Colin Petit scored the winner when his cousin, Curtis Petit, fed him a pass in the slot. He didn’t hesitate when asked if the puck felt good off his stick.
“Oh yeah, I ripped it,” Colin Petit said. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a kid, it’s just surreal.”
“It was a great shot that won the game,” Cheverus Coach Dan Lucas said. “If you’re going to lose, that’s the way to lose it – with a great shot like that.”
Biddeford goalkeeper Owen Sullivan finished with 31 saves, and Cheverus’ Jason Halverson had 29.
At 13:48 in the third, Cam Dube scored the go-ahead goal from Alexander Brewer for Cheverus before Ouellette’s goal 19 seconds later during a six-on-five play took the game into overtime.
“After we tied the game, I think Cheverus had an uphill battle,” Biddeford Coach Jason Tremblay said. “I don’t know what it is, they (Biddeford) don’t get down.”
After a scoreless first period, Biddeford scored a power-play goal 2:45 into the second when Liam Turner’s shot bounced off Ian Couture into the net. It was Couture’s first of three goals.
The Stags also capitalized on penalties, converting on both of their second-period power plays. Colby Anton tied the score 1-1 at 6:27, putting away a rebound. Couture answered back for the Tigers with a goal from Curtis Petit and Trenton Ouellette just over two minutes later when his shot hit Halverson, but Halverson lost the puck and it slid past him.
“They had a couple good breaks earlier – couple off the body, the leg,” Lucas said. “We didn’t get that fortunate – we had to fight for everything we got.”
Down 2-1 with 1:53 left in the second, Cheverus tied it up again on Justin Ray’s power-play goal. It was the last power play the Stags converted.
“We went to the box a few more times than we liked, but we learned from it on those two power plays,” Tremblay said. “We shut them down the rest of the way on the power play.”
Tied 2-2 heading into the third period, Couture scored from Colin Petit for a hat trick before Jackson Wilson tied the score again when he forced a turnover and scored a breakaway goal.
Nick McSorley gave Biddeford a 4-3 lead with a goal from Logan Magnant and Trevor Ouellette at 8:37 before Cam Dube scored from Alexander Brewer and Jackson Wilson two minutes later for Cheverus.
“They came back four times, we came back one,” Tremblay said. “It’s one of the best high school games I’ve ever been a part of.”
Taylor Vortherms can be contacted at 791-6417 or
tvortherms@pressherald.com
Twitter: TaylorVortherms
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