No. 5 South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete 5, No. 1 Falmouth 1
The Red Riots snapped the Navigators’ 17-game win streak and toppled Class A’s top seed with a 5-1 victory in the Class A semifinals at the Cross Insurance Arena. Tobey Lappin and Hewitt Sykes each had two goals in the win.
Brady Angell put the South Portland-co-op on the board seven minutes into the contest. Ian Wright and Ben Stanley had helpers. Wright and Stanley set up the second goal for the Red Riots as Sykes picked up his first of the contest, 9:18 into the middle frame.
Falmouth quickly responded 51 seconds later when Thomas Healey‘s backhander beat South Portland goalie Jasper Curtis (32 saves). Lappin scored a shorthanded breakaway goal with 11 seconds remaining in the second period.
South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete added insurance tallies in the third period. Lappin beat Brandon White (23 saves) nearly four minutes into the stanza. Seth Cloutier picked up the lone assist. Sykes lit the lamp for the second time midway through the third period for his second goal of the game.
No. 2 Thornton Academy 3, No. 6 Bangor 2
The Golden Trojans are heading back to the state championship game. A year after Thornton lost to Scarborough, the Golden Trojans defeated the Rams 3-2 on Wednesday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Jacob Marcotte opened the scoring, just 63 seconds into the game for the Golden Trojans. Gavin Pellerin and Heath McLean had the assists. Lucas Hubbard ripped a shot from the right circle giving Thornton Academy a 2-0 advantage 8:29 into the contest. Alex Alonso had the assist.
Bangor responded early in the second period when Marc-Andre Perron found some space in between the post and Golden Trojans goalie Porter Krause (25 saves) 2:23 into the frame. Miles Randall evened the contest 12:04 into the second period. Perron and Michael McLean set the goal up.
The game remained tied for only 51 seconds as Thornton’s Evan Beaudette drove to the net and the puck slid past Bangor goalie Liam Doughty (27 saves).
The officials did look at the goal on replay but the referees upheld the call.
Late in the third period, Porter Krause had to be on the top of his game in goal for Thornton. He made a couple of key saves on the penalty kill and a few more in the final minute when Bangor pulled Doughty.
