After losing four of its final five regular-season games, the last thing the Cheverus/Yarmouth boys’ hockey team needed was to fall behind less than a minute into its Class B South quarterfinal Wednesday evening at Troubh Ice Arena.
But third-seeded Cheverus/Yarmouth regrouped quickly and got two goals apiece from Brian Connolly and Andrew Cheever to beat sixth-seeded Gorham, 6-4.
Cheverus/Yarmouth (11-6-2) advances to take on second-seeded Cape Elizabeth in the semifinals.
“It certainly wasn’t the way we wanted to start, but the boys responded really well and we had a nice response every time they put the puck in the net,” said Cheverus/Yarmouth Coach Dave St. Pierre.
Gorham (8-10-1) needed just 24 seconds to strike first, as Cole Allen pounced on the rebound of a shot from Corliss Ordway and sent it past goalie Neal McQuarrie (12 saves).
The goal awakened Cheverus/Yarmouth, which controlled the puck for most of the rest of the first period. Gorham goalie Jasper Crane made several good saves before Cheverus/Yarmouth pulled even at 8:02. Cheever got the puck to Connolly, whose first shot was stopped by Crane, but Connolly poked in the rebound.
The visiting Rams earned a four-minute power play early in the second period, but Cheverus/Yarmouth took the lead with a short-handed goal, as Truman Peters converted the rebound of an Ian O’Connor shot at 3:49.
Gorham tied it with a power-play goal at 5:46, as Allen set up Andrew Gaudreau for a shot that eluded McQuarrie. Connolly then put Cheverus/Yarmouth back on top at 7:21, ripping a shot past Crane off a faceoff.
“I didn’t see anything,” said Connolly. “I got tangled up and the puck wound up on my stick. I just put the puck on net and hoped for the best.”
David Swift made it a two-goal lead four minutes into the third period, but Emmit Sullivan answered with a power-play goal.
Cheever then scored his first goal at 7:02, only to have Allen cut the deficit to 5-4 when he scored his second goal of the game with 2:37 left.
The Rams couldn’t complete the comeback, though, as Cheverus/Yarmouth didn’t allow another shot. Just before the final horn, Cheever’s empty-net goal finished it off.
“It was playoff hockey,” said St. Pierre. “That’s a good hockey team over there and they were fighting for their lives, but we responded, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Crane made 32 saves for Gorham.
“Things didn’t bounce our way, but our guys hung in there like they did all season and they have no reason to hang their heads,” said Gorham Coach Shawn Sullivan.
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