Kyle Banfield netted the game winner for York with just 10 seconds left in overtime to help the Wildcats survive against Cape Elizabeth, 4-3, Saturday in Biddeford. The goal came shortly after the Capers were unable to take advantage of two power play chances in the overtime period.
“I thought we outplayed them tonight,” said Cape coach Jason Tremblay. “We were all over them all game long. We just didn’t bury on a couple power plays at the end and that cost us the game. (Banfield) made a good move at the end, but I thought we outplayed them.”
York spent the majority of the overtime trying to kill off two penalties. The first one came just two and a half minutes into the extra frame. The Wildcats’ second man-down situation came just 30 seconds after the first was killed off. The Capers were hit with a penalty of their own early in that power play and therefore didn’t have the advantage for long.
Shortly after Eric Knight finished serving his penalty for the Capers, Banfield took control of the puck in the neutral zone. He skated into the Cape end with one defender trying desperately to keep up. He faked one way and then slid the puck underneath goalie Lincoln Jordan for the win.
Back in the first period, Cape jumped on the board first. During a delayed penalty, Tremblay pulled his goalie and sent an extra attacker onto the ice. The move worked as Sean Eubanks fired a shot of York goalie Andrew Loane’s pad and into the net.
“They came out playing intense,” said Cape forward Andrew Gibson. “We matched their intensity. We missed a couple of opportunities to score. Our goalie played great. It was evenly matched.”
York tied the game shortly after the Cape goal when Dan Powers ripped a slap shot from the blue line that found its way to the back of the net.
The Capers took the lead again when they scored just 26 seconds into the second period. Gibson took a dish from Eric Knight and fired a wrist shot through Loane’s pads and into the cage.
Cape held onto the lead for a long time as Jordan turned away shot after shot. But at 11:04 in the period, York’s David Figlioli knotted the game at two. Figlioli grabbed the puck near center ice and skated in on a breakaway to get the goal. Just 43 seconds later, York took their first lead of the game. Banfield passed the puck from behind the net to Nick Richard who immediately turned his opportunity into a score.
“They haven’t given up,” said Tremblay. “That’s the biggest thing. They play hard all the way through. That’s one thing I can be proud of from these guys. They’re not giving up, they’re working hard.”
In the third period, when it seemed like they would run out of time, the Capers got a power play with just under five minutes remaining. They wasted little time netting the equalizer. Just 16 seconds into the man advantage, Gibson tallied his second goal of the game, which forced the overtime period.
“We’ve been battling back in games all year so we knew we could do it,” said Gibson. “Then we got a power play and we set it up down low. We got a nice shot and a nice goal. We knew we could bounce back, we always know we can bounce back. That’s what is good about our team, we never get down and it showed there.”
Unfortunately for the Capers they didn’t get the result they wanted. Their record stands at 6-12 with just one game to play before the West B tournament begins. Right now they sit in fifth place in the Heal Points race with the top six teams qualifying for the playoffs.
“Hopefully we get in as five or six,” said Tremblay. “We’ll have our first game against Maranacook or Leavitt. We beat them already this year so we should be able to do it again. Then we’ll get York or Greely. We played with them both games this year. It’s not like it’s a far stretch for us to upset a team in the semifinals. We’re looking forward to it. It’s a change of season. They erase the records and we’ll see what happens.”
Gibson is already hoping for another shot at the Wildcats in the tournament.
“It was evenly matched and the score showed that until the overtime,” he said. “We look forward to seeing them again in the playoffs hopefully. I think we could be a sleeper team. We’re in fifth place and I think people are going to take us lightly. I think we could shock some people because we’ve got the skill to take the state championship again.”
Rams edge Red Storm
Last week, the Scarborough hockey team lost two straight games by a single goal. On Wednesday, Feb. 7, the Red Storm lost to Biddeford by a 2-1 margin. And on Saturday, the Red Storm fell to Kennebunk, 3-2.
Cullen Finn scored the game-winner for Kennebunk with less than five minutes to play in the third period.
Kennebunk opened the scoring in the second period when Noel Graydon converted on a pass from Marcus Smith at 6:04 in the second. Scarborough answered with a goal from Steve Cook just over two minutes later during a Red Storm power play.
Scarborough took the lead just a short time later when Mike Dakers picked up a power play goal. With just 10 seconds to play in the second period, Smith tied the game for the Rams.
Scarborough was scheduled to play St. Dom’s on Wednesday. The Red Storm were 13-5 entering this week.
Hawks top Red Riots
The South Portland hockey team has also dropped two straight games last week. The Red Riots were defeated 5-2 by Marshwood on Saturday with Ian Mills’ hat trick leading the Hawks.
Mills scored both of his team’s first period goals and that gave Marshwood a lead they would never relinquish.
In the second, Jimmy Doria got the Red Riots on the board cutting the deficit in half. But late in the period, Mills scored again to preserve the two-goal cushion.
In the third, Marshwood notched two more goals while South Portland managed just one from Brandon Martin.
The Riots are now 3-14 on the year. They are scheduled to host Westbrook on Thursday.
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