Scarborough rallies past EL, into state final

LEWISTON—Scarborough’s boys’ hockey team trailed most of the way, hit the post with the game on the line and got pushed to the brink by the tournament’s Cinderella, but the Red Storm are heading to the Class A state final nonetheless.

Tuesday evening at the Colisee, third-ranked Scarborough got all it could handle and more from resurgent seventh-seeded Edward Little in a state semifinal, but demonstrating the heart of the champion they hope to become, the Red Storm found a way to survive and advance.

With freshman sensation goalie Gage Ducharme holding Scarborough at bay to start the contest, the Red Eddies grabbed the lead with 6:32 to go in the first period when senior Dylan Campbell scored.

The Red Storm would answer, however, and with 2:05 left in the first, junior Cory Schular scored to pull Scarborough even, 1-1.

Edward Little then went back on top, 2-1, at 9:16 of the second period, as sophomore Wesley Clements banged home a rebound.

The Red Storm still trailed midway through the third period, but on the power play, they would answer, as junior Zach Chaisson (remember that name) got the puck to senior Cam Budway, who beat Ducharme to make it 2-2 with 7:05 to go in regulation.

The game would stay that way a long, long while.

Despite good chances both ways, neither team scored in the remainder of regulation, nor in an eight-minute first overtime.

Seventeen seconds into the second OT, Chaisson nearly ended it, but his shot his the post and the game would eventually go to a third extra session.

And there, on the power play, Scarborough finally prevailed.

With 3:12 left in triple OT, senior Dawson Gendreau won a faceoff back to Chaisson, who ripped a shot into the net and the Red Storm had one of the most dramatic victories in program history, 3-2.

Scarborough improved to 15-4-1, ended Edward Little’s win streak at nine games, its season at 10-11 and in the process, advanced to the Class A state final for the first time since 2016 where it will meet top-ranked, undefeated Lewiston (20-0) Saturday at 6 p.m., at the Colisee.

“I’m really proud of the guys in this locker room,” said Red Storm coach Jake Brown. “The guys who have been here the past couple years have trusted the process. We knew it would pay off.”

On and on into the night

Scarborough started the year 7-1-1, then suffered three straight losses before closing with six consecutive victories to lock up the No. 3 seed in Class A.

Saturday, the Red Storm took care of No. 6 Portland/Deering, 6-2, in the Class A state quarterfinals.

Edward Little, meanwhile, has defined the phrase up-and-down, capturing its first game, losing 10 straight, then closing the regular season on a seven-game win streak before beating 10th-ranked Biddeford (4-0) in the state preliminary round and upsetting second-seeded St. Dom’s, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.

The teams played just once in the regular season, two days before Christmas, when Gendreau completed a hat trick with a second to go in regulation to give Scarborough a 4-3 home win over Edward Little.

Tuesday marked the teams’ first playoff meeting and suffice it to say, it was memorable.

The contest began slowly, with just a few chances in the first half of the first period.

Ducharme quickly made his presence felt by denying Schular two minutes in.

At the other end, Scarborough junior goalie Peter O’Brien made a nice glove save to stop a shot from Edward Little senior Reed Chapman.

Then, after Ducharme denied a back-handed bid in front from sophomore Sam Rumelhart, the Red Eddies struck first.

At 8:28 of the first, junior Colin Merritt set up Campbell for a shot which sailed just inside the near post and past O’Brien’s pad for a 1-0 advantage.

Scarborough then came to life and battled back.

After Ducharme robbed senior Nolan Matthews on the back-hand and Matthews set up Budway in front, only to see Budway miss wide, the tying tally came with 2:05 remaining, as junior James Lilley launched a long shot which Schular managed to redirect past Ducharme to make it 1-1 after one period.

Edward Little’s special teams then produced the lead in the second period.

After O’Brien denied junior Will Cassidy and senior Logan Alexander’s rebound went wide, O’Brien saved a shot from sophomore Jack Keefe, robbed senior Tanner Holbrook and denied Clements, the Red Eddies went on the power play at 8:21 of the period.

It took just 55 seconds to break the tie, as sophomore Aiden Gonzalez got the puck up top to junior Shawn Allen, who ripped a shot that O’Brien slowed but couldn’t stop and Clements was there to tap home the rebound for a 2-1 lead at 9:16.

After each team took a penalty, 4-on-4 play produced some good chances both ways, but Ducharme robbed Budway with a kick save, Clements missed just wide on a rush with the back-hand and O’Brien denied both Alexander and Keefe.

In the final minute, Scarborough pushed hard for the equalizer, but Ducharme robbed Gendreau in front, then made saves on senior Ethan Jasa and Gendreau to send Edward Little to the second intermission with a one-goal advantage.

The Red Storm would rise to the occasion and pull even in the third period.

Scarborough nearly tied it at 4:32 of the third, but Ducharme robbed Rumbelhart on a breakaway.

Then, at 6:57, the Red Storm went on the power and after Ducharme stopped a good look by Chaisson, Chaisson set up Budway for a blast that got past Ducharme and tied the score, 2-2, with 7:05 remaining.

Each team had one good chance later in regulation, but a shot from Cassidy was saved by O’Brien with the rebound cleared and after Budway fought through the defense, Ducharme made the save.

In Maine high school playoff hockey, teams play eight-minute periods, as many as possible, until a goal is scored.

On this night, it took three extra sessions

Edward Little dominated most of the first overtime, but O’Brien was superb.

After both junior Marius Morneau and senior Cam Sturgis missed wide, O’Brien denied Gonzalez after a turnover, saved a shot by freshman Campbell Cassidy, then with 2:14 remaining, stopped a shot by Chapman and two rebound attempts from Gonzalez before a scrum developed in front of the prone goalie and the whistle finally blew.

Then, with 1:04 left in overtime, Scarborough went on the power play, but Ducharme fell on a loose puck to send the contest to a second OT.

Where, again, no one could score, even though the Red Storm controlled play.

Scarborough started the OT with 56 seconds of power play and just 17 seconds in, Chaisson fired a promising shot, but it rang off the far post.

“I came back to the bench and I was a little frustrated, but you can’t let that get to your head in this type of situation and I turned it around,” Chaisson said.

“Even when that post happened, we didn’t panic,” Brown said. “(Zach) came to the bench and he was ready for his next opportunity.”

After Ducharme denied Chaisson in close, he twice robbed Budway.

Edward Little’s only shot came from Campbell Cassidy, but O’Brien made the stop.

Late in the period, Chaisson turned a Red Eddies’ defender around and blew past him to go one-on-one with Ducharme, but again, the goalie came up huge and the game went to overtime number three.

Where, finally, Scarborough put it away.

Edward Little had the first chance of the OT, but O’Brien denied a long shot from Will Cassidy.

The Red Storm then transitioned to offense where Budway had a great look, only to see Ducharme make the save.

Matthews and Rumelhart then attacked two-on-one, but Matthews was denied as well.

After one more Ducharme save, on a shot from Matthews, the game turned for good, as Chapman was sent off for elbowing with 3:15 to go.

And just three seconds later, it was over.

Gendreau won the ensuing faceoff back to Chaisson and Chaisson fired the shot of his young life, a shot through a screen just past Ducharme to the goalie’s left and into the net.

Scarborough 3 Edward Little 2.

“I had a dream about this,” Chaisson said. “I’d never had this kind of chance. I really wanted it more than anyone. What a great experience to have. We were really trying to put pressure on the net. I just shot it and it went in.”

“That as a great shot,” Brown said. “We have two good power play units. It’s about getting them both going. We’ve got guys who can step up.”

At 8:33 p.m., two hours and 27 minutes after it began, the game ended with the Red Storm celebrating en masse on the Colisee ice.

“What I liked was in the third period and two overtimes, we had a ton of chances,” Brown said. “We didn’t quite finish, but there was a sense of calm. We didn’t panic and we stuck to our identity and it paid off. In these types of games, things don’t go your way for all 45 minutes. Bounces won’t go your way, but you have to stick together. Our third line got some big shifts in overtime and I think that made a difference for the top two lines. Not a lot of people saw that, but it was huge.”

Brown, who previously served as an assistant to Edward Little’s coach Norm Gagne, the Maine coaching legend, was exuberant after the contest, pumping his fist as he ran down the hallway toward the locker room. Brown, who suffered a 3-15 campaign his first season as head coach before leading the Red Storm to the quarterfinals a year ago, gets to coach in the state final after being along for the ride with Gagne, who coached Scarborough to the season’s final game four years ago.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for (Norm) and we knew it was going to be a good game,” Brown said. “Everyone thought (Edward Little would) be a top team at the beginning of the year, but they didn’t play well to start the season. They’re big and strong.”

Scarborough was out-shot, 35-33, but got 33 saves from O’Brien and went 2-for-4 on the power play.

Ducharme, whose future is very bright, made 30 saves for the Red Eddies, who converted 1-of-2 power play chances.

“My goalie played out of his mind,” Gagne said. “(Scarborough has) a lot of great forwards. Anytime we made a bad mistake, Gage was there. I knew it was going to be a battle, and it’s unfortunate we had that penalty, that really hurt us. I was saying, ‘We got to get through this, we got to get through this,’ but it’s so hard. (Scarborough’s) a great team, and we knew that we were going to have to reach down.

“We came back from a 1-10 season to this and took the third-place team to triple-overtime. I’m really proud of them.”

The final step

Scarborough’s quest for a third state title in program history has an enormous obstacle standing in the way. Lewiston hasn’t lost a game all year and after a slow start in its semifinal Tuesday, handled No. 4 South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete, 5-1, to advance

Scarborough lost twice to the Blue Devils this season, 5-1 at Lewiston Dec. 18 and 3-1 at home Feb. 1.

The teams met just once before in the postseason, Lewiston’s 2-1 victory in the 2016 Class A state final.

The Red Storm will be the underdog, but they’ll be ready.

Whether it takes 45 minutes.

Or even more.

“We’re all a family,” Chaisson said. “We’ve played so long together. We play together so well. We just need to bring our energy and play our game. Lewiston has solid lines, not many holes. Kind of like us. I think we can compete.”

“We’re going to enjoy the win tonight, but we’re not done,” said Brown. “We’ll get back to work tomorrow. We’re not settling for getting to states. Lewiston is a really good. We have to play really well defensively. I think we have to trust each other. Not one guy will beat Lewiston. It’s going to take a full team effort.”

Press Herald staff writer Kevin Thomas and Sun Journal staff writer Wil Kramlich contributed to this story.