PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – A power-play goal with 2:42 left in regulation by Neal LaFrance closed a two-goal gap and gave the Crusaders a glimmer of hope in Monday night’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal, but the Presque Isle defense held tough against a six-man surge and earned the 4-3 win.
The Wildcats scored the winning goal 4:24 into the third when Brennen Shaw collected the puck on the left side and sent a pass across the ice. Dylan Collins sent a short, glove-side flip high and just under the cross bar.
“It was a great play by them,” said senior captain Ben McPherson. “They dumped it in. Brennen made a great pass to pull their defense over and block the net, and Dylan put it in.”
Down 4-2 the Crusaders took a timeout to regroup, but momentum was on Presque Isle’s side.
Greg Cyr and McPherson kept the puck in the John Bapst end and the Crusaders took a penalty for interference.
The Wildcats got a couple good looks during the power play but John Bapst goalie Derek Duff made the saves.
“We knew their goalie is very good,” McPherson said. “In our last game he was amazing so we knew we had to screen him and get a lot of shots through high. He’s very good down low.”
The Crusader goal came in the crucial final minutes when it appeared that Presque Isle would walk away with an easy win.
Chase Huckestein picked up the puck on the left and sent a centering pass to LaFrance, who put a hard shot at center goal.
Presque Isle rebounded with shots of their own while John Bapst rested their first line for the final surge. With 1:20 left, the Crusaders put in Huckestein, LaFrance and Alex Yates and got the puck out of their defensive end to take the goalie out in favor of a sixth skater.
John Bapst got one final look before an icing call with 25 seconds left gave the Wildcats a face-off in the Crusader end and forced John Bapst to put their goalie back in.
“I think we were banking on [the win],” McPherson said of the final seconds. “We were still trying to run the clock out, but we were banking on a win at that point.”
The Wildcats move on to meet first seeded Orono in the semifinal round at Alfond Arena Saturday.
Presque Isle got the early advantage just 4:29 into the first period. Greg Cyr collected the puck on the right side just beyond the blue line and sent a pass to McPherson, who got perfect position at left-center goal for the high shot.
John Bapst bounced back, putting pressure on Presque Isle goalie Ethan Hill, who made three athletic saves before the Crusaders got him off his skates and netted the quick goal.
Presque Isle took a 2-1 lead going into the intermission when a pass from Brandon Daigle found McPherson by himself near center ice. McPherson took the puck down the right-side boards and sent a hard shot above Duff’s glove with 1:59 remaining.
John Bapst got the equalizer on a power play early in the second when Casey Hill popped in a close range shot.
The Wildcats regained the lead with 1:38 remaining in the second as Daigle found the puck near center ice, went one-on-one with the goalie and got the unassisted score.
John Bapst opened the third with a near one-on-one opportunity from Casey Hill, but a speedy Parker Hovey stayed with him and prevented a shot. The play proved one of several impressive defensive plays for the Wildcats on the evening including another earlier from Hovey that nearly resulted in a goal.
At the end of the first period, Hovey faked right, pulled back left and sent a pass ahead to Shaw, who got the puck ahead to McPherson. The close range shot nearly went in, but Duff went down for the save.
Cyr also got an impressive stop defensively when Yates went full steam ahead for the goal but found the Presque Isle defenseman in good position for the stop. The Wildcats know they’re going to need that defense to pull out a win Saturday.
“We know [Orono is] tough,” McPherson said. “They have a great first line with two of the best players in Eastern Maine, so we’ll need to contain them and just play hard. We know if we can outshoot them we have a chance of winning.”
Presque Isle showed no problems shooting the puck in the quarterfinals. The team got off 30 shots including 13 in the second period. Ethan Hill made 18 saves in goal for the Wildcats.
“It was a little too close for comfort, but you know, it’s a playoff game and John Bapst played a great game,” McPherson said. “We’re happy with a win.”
