ORONO, Maine — The Camden Hills High School Windjammers received four goals and an assist from senior left wing Owen McManus and a game-winning goal with 6:45 left from sophomore left wing Bridger Witbeck to edge Hampden Academy 6-5 in a thrilling Class B North championship game at Alfond Arena Tuesday night.
It is Camden Hills’ second B North title in three years and both wins came over Hampden Academy, which has lost in the B North final for three consecutive years.
The Windjammers, 15-6 and winner of 11 of their last 12, will play the Cheverus-Leavitt winner in Saturday afternoon’s state final at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Hampden Academy finished at 12-7-2.
The Windjammers of first-year coach Harrison Rogers had leads of 4-1 and 5-2 but the Broncos rallied to tie it 5-5 on goals 33 seconds apart in the third period by senior right wing Keith Brooks and senior left wing Matthew Shayne.
It was Shayne’s third of the night.
Just 2:26 after Shayne had scored the equalizer, the Broncos had a sustained forecheck only to have the Windjammers bank a clearing pass off the boards and down the ice.
Witbeck and McManus were behind the Bronco defense but the puck was a little ahead of Witbeck.
Witbeck tracked it down just before it reached the extended goal line and fired it across toward McManus but the puck hit goalie Aiden Surran’s skate and trickled over the goal line.
“I was just trying to get the puck across to [McManus] for him to bury it and I got a gift. I’ll take it,” said Witback, whose goal was his second of the season.
Blake Christie and Owen Hotchkin earned assists.
Camden Hills sophomore goalie Quinn Hoppin preserved the win with 12 seconds left when he extended his left pad to rob Brooks from short-range.
“I just kind of blacked out and did what I had to do,” Hoppin said.
“I turned around and threw it on net. I thought it was open. He made a good save,” said Brooks, who eclipsed the 100-point mark for his career with a goal and two assists.
McManus scored a pair of goals in each of the first two periods and set up sophomore center Christie’s goal as the Windjammer took a 5-3 lead after two periods.
Shayne notched a goal in each period and senior defenseman Tucker Leland scored midway through the second period to create the 5-3 scoreline.
McManus opened the scoring just 31 seconds into the game when he was parked just outside the crease to the left of Surran and neatly tucked a backhander over Surran’s glove off the rebound of an Emmet Marshall from the right point.
Hampden Academy carried the play for the next 10 minutes and got a deserved equalizer when Brooks’ shot from the top of the right faceoff circle off a Lucas Dunn pass hit a stick and rolled across to the far post where Shayne was waiting to swipe it into an empty net.
Most of the play was spent in the Camden Hills zone but the Windjammers scored a pair of goals during a flurry at the end of the period to take a 3-1 lead.
McManus made a nifty pass to Christie, who had gotten behind the defense and skated across the crease before tucking the puck inside the post for his 10th goal of the season.
McManus made it 3-1 when he skated down the left wing and roofed a short wrist shot into the short side corner with 27 seconds left in the period.
McManus said he was looking to make a pass across to his teammate but his teammate was covered “so I let one rip and it snuck by [Surran].”
He made it 4-1 in the second period with a one-timer from the low slot off a feed from behind the net by Christie.
“It was a beautiful pass. I just had to get my stick on it,” McManus said.
Shayne answered when a Brooks shot deflected off a stick over to him.
McManus made it 5-2 with his 37th goal of the season, a terrific shorthanded effort as he broke down the wing, made a move and snapped a quick shot over Surran’s pad into the near side corner.
It was also his eighth goal in their three playoff games.
Leland closed out the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot for his seventh.
Brooks cut the lead to 5-4 by one-timing a cross-ice pass from Colin McKay on the power play for his 18th goal of the campaign and Shayne tied it seconds later with a nice wrist shot from the low slot. It was his team-leading 21st goal.
“This was amazing,” McManus said. “We’ve worked our tails off for this.”
Hoppin and Surran each finished with 21 saves.
“We didn’t play that well defensively,” Brooks said. “All it takes is a few mistakes in your defensive zone and they capitalized. We played really well in the third period. It’s always fun to play in these games but when you lose, it stinks.”
“We didn’t capitalize on all of our opportunities and [McManus] is a force,”Hampden Academy coach Zach Wilson said. “Hockey isn’t always fair. You can put in the work and not get rewarded.
“Hats off to Camden Hills. They’ve done a great job this year. They’ve been battlers. Harrison has done a great job with them,” Wilson added.
“It’s tough to come back from a three-goal deficit but we showed a lot of character,” Shayne said. “We had chances at the end. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted.”