Bangor High School teammates Jake Hirsch and Cooper Ireland are two of eight semifinalists for the Travis Roy Award.
The award, named after the late Travis Roy, goes to the state’s best senior Class A hockey player.
Goalie Hirsch and center Ireland are joined on the list by South Portland’s Cullen Adams, Edward Little of Auburn’s Jack Keefe, Thornton Academy of Saco’s Alex St. John, Lewiston High’s Evan Knowlton, Portland-Deering’s Ryan Becker and Falmouth’s Charlie Adams.
Roy, a Yarmouth native, was paralyzed from the neck down on his first shift for Boston University when he crashed headlong into the boards. He became an influential motivational speaker who touched lives wherever he went.
Hirsch and Ireland will be in action on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. when the second-seeded Rams, 14-3, will take on No. 7 Scarborough, 10-8-1, in a Class A quarterfinal at Sawyer Arena in Bangor.
In the Class B North semifinals on Saturday, No. 2 Hampden Academy, 14-3, will entertain No. 3 Old Town-Orono, 13-4 at 3:40 p.m. at Sawyer Arena in Bangor and No. 2 Camden Hills will host No. 8 Gardiner at the MidCoast Recreation Center in Rockport at 8.
Hampden Academy won its quarterfinal 6-2 over Presque Isle on Wednesday; Old Town-Orono rallied for a 3-1 win over Brewer; Camden Hills shut out John Bapst of Bangor 2-0 and Gardiner upset top seed Messaloskee of Oakland 3-2 in overtime.
Scarborough ousted Portland-Deering 6-5 in overtime after squandering a 5-1 lead in a preliminary round game.
Bangor beat Scarborough at Sawyer Arena 7-3 on Feb. 5.
Hirsch has had an exceptional season between the pipes. He is 10-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage. The 6-foot-3 Hirsch covers a lot of net and is a sound positional goaltender who tracks the puck well.
Ireland has been a scoring machine for the Rams with 27 goals in only 17 games thanks to numerous hat tricks. He has a quick release on his shot and is accurate with it.
Keefe led Edward Little to the top seed by scoring 17 goals and dishing out 11 assists in 18 games. Charlie Adams registered 10 goals and 22 assists in 19 games for Falmouth; Cullen Adams racked up 14 goals and 10 assists in 19 games; Knowlton netted 13 goals and 12 assists in 17 games and St. John produced 13 goals and 8 assists in 16 games.
Goalie Becker posted a 6-10 record, a 4.91 GAA and a .918 save percentage along with two shutouts for Portland/Deering.