PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Brennen Shaw sent a high shot into the upper glove side of the John Bapst net off a pass from Parker Hovey 3:46 into overtime Saturday as the Presque Isle varsity hockey team pulled out an upset win over Eastern Maine’s fourth-ranked team.
Greg Cyr sent the match into overtime when, down by one with one minute remaining, the Wildcats pulled goalie Ethan Hill in favor of an extra skater. Cyr took a pass from Ben McPherson and Dylan Collins and converted with 31 seconds remaining in regulation.
John Bapst took the upper hand earlier in the period at the nine-minute mark, ending a 2-2 tie.
The teams played back and forth right from the beginning, but Presque Isle took advantage of a powerplay when Brandon Daigle took a centering pass from Spencer Deschene and sent in a shot, which deflected left off Crusader goalie Derek Duff’s pads. McPherson was waiting for the cleanup and collected his 11th goal of the season with nine seconds left in the powerplay and 2:49 left in the period.
The Wildcats outshot John Bapst 8-6 in the first period and continued a slight dominance into the second with a 10-9 shots-on-goal advantage, but the Crusaders got the tying goal on a screen in front of Hill 5:21 into the period. John Cooper put in the tally off a pass from Tyler Smith.
The Crusaders again scored at the nine-minute mark in the final period. Presque Isle called a timeout with 1:16 left to set up their final scoring opportunity.
Hill faced 23 shots on the evening while Duff faced 27.
The Wildcats started a busy week last Tuesday against Stearns with a 6-1 win.
Presque Isle scored two goals in each period in the victory. Daigle led the way with four goals and an assist followed by McPherson with a goal and two assists. Mitchell Davis rounded out scoring with his first career high school goal. Cyr picked up two assists and Deschene and Jason Martin each added an assist.
Hill faced 17 shots while the Wildcats fired off 32 shots at the Minutemen.
Presque Isle continued a strong road stance with a 9-2 win over Foxcroft Academy.
The Wildcats opened up a 4-1 lead in the first period with two goals by Shaw and one each by Cyr and Steve Ford.
McPherson fired off two goals to start the final two periods and Sean Flanagin added a goal and three assists. Hovey picked up a goal to end the second period. Sperrey rounded out scoring with his second goal of the game in the third period as the team collected the win.
Others collecting assists were Collins and Daigle with two each and Ford, Cyr, Shaw, Hovey, Deschene, Jared Buck and Zac Campbell with one each.
The Wildcats outshot the Ponies 35-22 including an 18-2 margin in the third period.
Presque Isle improves to 7-4-1 on the season and move up to fifth in Eastern Maine Class B Hockey, just two-tenths of a point behind John Bapst. The team takes on Foxcroft Academy again Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Forum.
