WINSLOW — Desperate for a win, the Lawrence/Skowhegan Co-op gave undefeated Cheverus all it could handle Wednesday night at Sukee Arena.
The Stags — playing for the second time in as many nights — survived a wild scrum in front of the net in the final 10 seconds to scratch out a 3-3 tie with the Bandits.
Additional Images
“I don’t think it was indicative of our record, that’s for sure,” Cheverus coach Dan Lucas said. “Two games in two nights is not an excuse from a coaching standpoint. There were some guys whose heads weren’t in it. Not everyone got off the bus.
“…We were pretty fortunate to come out of that game with a tie.”
Cody Martin scored two goals and Trey Michonski added another to pace the Bandits (0-2-1). Mike Hatch, James Hannigan and Nick Noyes buried pucks for Cheverus (4-0-1).
The Stags nearly lost it late.
After an initial save by Cheverus goalie Kyle Severance, Lawrence/Skowhegan’s Martin, Andrew Carpenter and Sam Haver all came crashing toward the net for the rebound. Each poked at the puck to try and get it across the line, and while Martin thought it may have done so, no signal came from the official.
“We really gave it our all,” Lawrence/Skowhegan coach Ted Fabian said. “They really did an excellent job of playing the system. We threw some different things at them in practice and they really did a great job.”
The teams were even 3-3 entering the third because they cashed in on a fair amount of chances in the opening two periods. However, in the third — as well as the extra session — missed opportunities would ultimately prevent either team from picking up the victory.
The Bandits (0-2-1) had a prime opportunity just 2 minutes, 15 seconds into the third after Cheverus’ Alex Libby was sent to the box for five minutes, but during that stretch they only mustered three shots on goal.
“Special teams are huge,” Fabian said. “We’ve got to do a better job of capitalizing on our opportunities. That will come, but the chemistry on the power plays just isn’t there yet. We’re getting there. We’ll figure it out.”
As soon as the penalty ended, the Stags broke out into a three-on-one rush, but Lawrence/Skowhegan goalie Curtis Martin was in good position to make a save on Keegan Thomas’ attempt on net.
In the extra period Cheverus spent nearly four of the first six minutes with a man advantage after back-to-back Bandit minors, yet it too could not generate many solid tries on net.
“We were not as organized as I wanted us to be — you know, get it in, slow it down and create a play,” Lucas said. “Too many guys were shooting the puck in the corner or not trying to make a play and we couldn’t connect.”
The Stags finally got a good chance just as the penalty expired, but from there it would be the Bandits that had the best opportunities to end it.
Cody Martin got a breakaway with a little over three minutes remaining but was turned away by Severance.
Less than two minutes later, Carpenter managed to put a Cheverus defender on his hip to create a two-on-none break with a teammate streaking down the left side, yet Severance was there to poke the pass away.
Brady Martin pinged the crossbar on a shot from just inside the blue line with 45 seconds to go and ultimately the Bandits would head to the locker room still in search of their first win.
“They’re the best team in the West,” Cody Martin said. “We definitely took a step forward.
“We started off with a little struggle, changed the lines up a little bit, started off with three D this game and it just worked really well.”
Added Lucas: “We had some good luck there at the end. Somehow we came out of it. Sometimes the hockey gods give you a break and maybe tonight was one of them.”
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story