AUBURN – After a long bus trip, it looked as though it might be a quick night Saturday for the Bangor hockey team.

The Rams found themselves under pressure and under fire early against unbeaten Edward Little. Bangor survived the first few minutes of play and then kept EL at bay the rest of the evening. Bangor not only weathered that early storm but held off a late barrage to hand the Red Eddies their first loss of the season with a 5-4 victory at Ingersoll Arena.

“To beat the state championship in their home rink, that’s enormous,” said Bangor coach Dan Kerluke. “I told the kids before the game ‘They’re the state champs. They’re undefeated. We’ve got nothing to lose, and they’ve got everything to lose.'”

Bangor spent much of the night trying to outlast EL’s potent offense. After being outshot 9-1 in the first eight minutes, the Rams tied it. Though EL outshot Bangor 45-23, Aaron Buzzell was immense in the Bangor net.

“Their goalie played well,” said EL coach Jamie Belleau. “Their defense played well. They played a nice disciplined game. I think my kids certainly had a lot of scoring opportunities, but that type of game can happen when you run into a hot goaltender and when the other team capitalizes on a couple of power plays.”

After the two teams combined for six goals and three lead changes in the second period, Bangor accounted for the only tally in the third.

With 12:13 left in the game, Jeff Ward’s forecheck in the defensive zone help force a turnover. Brandon Prescott took advantage at the high slot and drilled the puck into the net for the game-winner.

“We went to a trap after that,” said Kerluke. “Everytime we got up on Edward Little we knew we had to play good defense because they have so much power up front. We trapped and played our game and did the best we could defensively.”

EL had ample opportunity to produce the tying goal. The Red Eddies had a two-man advantage for 1:25 midway through the final period and then had another power play with 6:28 left, but came up empty each time. The best bid came when Colby Gilbert set up Kyle Smith at the left post, but he couldn’t put it over a sprawling Buzzell. EL pulled goaltender Kris Bennett in the final minute but couldn’t score, despite having three bodies in front of Buzzell.

“It’s a tough loss but there are a lot of good things to take out of this, too,” said Belleau.

EL swarmed Bangor in the opening minutes and got a quick goal on a Mert Gould backhander. The Rams survived that rush and tied it with an Andy Marin shot from the point with 6:55 left.

“With all the energy and skill they have, you have to weather the storm,” said Kerluke. “We were really outshot, but we kept playing our game. I tip my hat to my kids for playing disciplined and playing strong.”

Bangor (8-3) took the lead on the power play just 14 seconds into the second when T.J. Vanidestine scored on a rebound. Smith, whose penalty led to the power play tally, got it back 43 seconds later.

EL (9-1) then took the lead with a Gilbert power-play goal, tipping in a Bill Parker shot with 8:48 left. Bangor answered with a Nick Payson backhander with 6:33 remaining.

The Rams took the lead with 4:34 when Vanidestine scored on another rebound for a second power-play tally, but EL tied it with 1:28 left when Matt Nadeau centered a pass and a couple of whacks by Smith slipped it by Buzzell.

“When it comes down to it, sometimes goaltending is the key, and he’s been strong for us all season long,” said Kerluke.

kmills@sunjournal.com

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