LEWISTON — Nobody scores in bunches like the Greely boys’ hockey team.
And nobody in Class B wins like the Rangers, either.
Top-seeded Greely was held in check by No. 6 Cape Elizabeth for one period of Class B South final Wednesday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, but three goals in a 2-minute, 26-second span of the second period sent the Rangers on their way to another regional title.
Alex Wallace scored twice and Andy Moore also found the net in that stretch, and Greely went on to a 6-1 victory. The Rangers (16-3-1) advanced to the state championship game for the third consecutive season, and will play for their second straight state title at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Colisee against the winner of Thursday’s North final between Old Town/Orono and Presque Isle.
“I think tonight, especially in the second and third periods, I feel like we settled down and settled in and played a strong game in all three zones,” said Greely Coach Barry Mothes. “It’s always special to still be playing this time of year.”
The Rangers got the game’s first goal at 8:32 of the first period, as Caleb Duff sent a shot on net and Mitchell Parent tipped it past Cape Elizabeth goalie Will Depke.
That advantage lasted just 47 seconds. Gavin Simopoulos, the hero of the Capers’ semifinal overtime victory over Cheverus, tied the score, with an assist from Sebastian Moon.
Greely had over three minutes on the power play late in the period, including 19 seconds of 5 on 3, but the closest it came to scoring was when Evan Dutil hit the post.
Cape Elizabeth (10-11) started the second period on the power play but couldn’t solve Greely goalie Jared Swisher (15 saves).
Then the Rangers’ offense roared to life.
At 1:58, Wallace took a pass from Duff, slipped behind the defense, got Depke moving to his right and fired a low shot to the goalie’s left.
“We started out a little slow, but we regrouped and got it going,” Wallace said. “I was coming down the side and I saw that right side open, so I just tossed it on net and it went in.”
Moore added to the lead at 3:48, as he pounced on a loose puck and beat Depke for an unassisted goal.
Then, at 4:24, Dutil lofted a high pass off the glass to Wallace, who again raced in untouched for his second goal.
“We’re just experienced, and that helped us in this game,” Wallace said.
In a span of just over two minutes, on a total of four shots, the Rangers had scored three backbreaking goals.
“Our plan was to come out in the second period and get the first goal,” Duff said. “Coach always tells us to get pucks to the net, and we really did that tonight and it paid off.”
Greely held Cape Elizabeth to just two shots in the third period. A power-play goal by Tyler Grasky, set up by some nifty skating from Dutil, and an empty-net goal from Ryan Moore, assisted by Devdan Young and Andy Moore, accounted for the final score.
Depke made 18 saves for the Capers, who started 2-8 before turning their season around.
“(Greely’s) top players really showed up today and that was the difference,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Jake Rutt. “I thought in the second and third periods, we strayed away from what made us successful the last half of the season, and the credit goes to our opponent.
“We want to hoist the plaque at the end of the season, but we put together a good run. Credit for that goes to our leaders. We had a tremendous turnaround. We’ll carry this momentum into next season.”
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