LEWISTON — The hockey reasons were enough.
But Sam Canales had a better explanation.
The Thornton Academy captain had a fully emotional rationale for how the Golden Trojans defeated defending state champs Biddeford, 4-3, Tuesday, to take the Western Maine Class A crown.
“We knew it was our game,” said Canales. “It was our time.”
If so, the Golden Trojans transformed that two hours at the Colisee into history, by securing the school’s first ever spot in the Class A state championship game.
The Golden Trojans will face Lewiston, 4-1 winners over St. Dom’s in the Eastern title tilt, Saturday at 6 p.m., also at the Colisee.
“It feels great,” said junior forward Andrew Carignan, who fueled the Trojan attack with two goals and an assist. “I just loved contributing to the win.”
It was a reversal of fortune for the Trojans, who lost to Biddeford in last year’s Western final, giving fuel to the Tigers’ third state title in four years.
Biddeford also prevailed in the two regular season meetings.
Thornton, which never trailed, dominated the first period by outshooting the Tigers 10-1 and holding a 1-0 lead, thanks to Carignan, at 8:43.
The play began in the neutral zone, when Trojans defenseman Ryan Locke forced a turnover then sped to the left point.
His blast rattled around a tangle of players in front, where Carignan cleaned up the rebound.
“It was a nice shot by ”˜Lockie’,” said Carignan. “He put it right off the (goalie’s) pad like he’s done all year. I just went to the net and looked for a rebound.”
The Trojans kept Biddeford attackers clogged up, thwarting any semblance of a scoring opportunity.
“I think they played a perfect first period,” said Tigers’ coach Rich Reissfelder. “They executed beautifully. That first goal they earned was fantastic. They trapped us a little bit, which we weren’t expecting. But we adjusted to it.”
Indeed, Biddeford regained its footing in the second stanza, and with 2:59 gone, got the tying goal on a power play from Tyler Audie.
Audie barged to the edge of the crease, where he picked up Scott Callahan’s rebound and swatted it past Thornton goalie Jay Finch (19 saves).
The score held until 9.1 seconds were left, when C.J. Maksut regained the lead for Thornton, polishing off a long down-rink dash by tucking the puck behind Tigers goalie Jon Fields (24 saves).
“Everybody was pumped up about that goal,” said Carginan. “We just used that momentum to carry on into the third.”
And in the opening seconds of the third, they used a fortuitous hop on a Jon Pate knuckler to expand the lead to 3-1.
Still, the Tigers, whose undefeated regular season mark was just the third recorded in Class A history, refused to fold.
Twice they trailed by two goals, and each time they pulled to within one tally.
Brady Fleurent, the state’s leading goal scorer, who notched Nos. 32 and 33, wrapped around Carignan’s second goal of the night.
Fleurent’s second tally came at 11:22 and kept the Tigers’ hopes a flicker.
However, the Trojans held off Biddeford until there was no more time.
Except for Thornton’s time.
“It’s very rare that a team beats a team three times in one season,” said Canales. “But this was ours.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
