St. Dom’s faces Cheverus tonight in a West division semifinal.
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

The seeds may not look right, with a No. 6 and a No. 5 joining No. 1 St. Dom’s and No. 2 North Yarmouth Academy in the Class A West semifinals, but the teams that hold those rankings aren’t exactly pushovers.

Last year, Falmouth was a top contender in Class B, and lost a tight Western final to Cape Elizabeth. This year, the program’s first in Class A, the Yachtsmen stumbled a bit out of the gate, but have since righted the ship, as a depleted Portland team found out on Monday.

Cheverus, meanwhile, just lost out on the No. 4 spot to South Portland, but that didn’t matter because both teams play their home games at the Portland Ice Arena.

Cheverus against St. Dom’s, meanwhile, has a much more familiar ring to it.

“Cheverus is a team we are used to seeing at least twice a year,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Boucher said. “This year we only saw them once after the Bishop’s Cup final was canceled, but that was a great game.”

In that game, the Saints battled the Stags to a 4-4 tie after two periods before pulling away with two in the third.

The Saints were frustrated on Monday, taking more than 50 shots against the Thornton Academy Trojans. Several were blocked by defensemen’s sticks or limbs, but still just three got past netminder Jake Smiley.

“What we saw against Thornton was that we weren’t finishing our plays,” Boucher said. “We weren’t attacking the net, even though we had a lot of shots, we didn’t get to a lot of rebounds.”

Now, the scene for all of the teams shifts to the Colisee. Although the name is different, and the ice surface and boards are different, the building itself has seen several state champions roaming between its blue lines. St. Dom’s, for better or worse, always seems to step up their level of play at home in the playoffs.

“There’s always something to be said about playing at home,” Boucher said. “Staying put certainly helps.”

The Saints match up well with Cheverus. Both teams feature speed up front, and both have young but experienced blue lines. In goal, however, Brandon Gervais of St. Dom’s has the edge in experience. Still, it is the playoffs.

“Both teams are smaller, but very quick,” Boucher said. “From game to game in high school, goaltending can be back and forth. Hopefully we’ll see in this game what we’ve had all year from Brandon.”

Eastern Class A

Speaking of teams used to winning at the Colisee, Lewiston welcome’s Bangor to the old barn on Saturday, while Edward Little, a team that used to call the Colisee home, will also play their semifinal game against Mt. Ararat.

Lewiston and Bangor this season have played well against each other. Earlier in the season, Bangor nearly held the Blue Devils scoreless, allowing just one first-period goal to Jason Dube in a 1-0 loss, and Lewiston defeated the Rams 4-2 at the Colisee.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’re happy with how we played on Monday,” Lewiston coach Tim Smith said. “Bangor is a solid team. They have wins over Edward Little and NYA this year, so we have to play a good game.”

Bangor is the only team in the state this year to have beaten Edward little, a 6-5 slugfest at Ingersoll Arena in which neither goaltender played particularly well.

Aaron Buzzell has been a focal point of the Bangor lineup all season, and with Nick Payson having just dropped in five goals on Messalonskee (yes, by himself) in a 5-1 win, the offensive threat is also there.

“Buzzell is one of the top goalies in the state, there’s no question,” Smith said. “And as far as Payson is concerned, he is one of the best forwards in the state, and he’s only a sophomore.”

The Blue Devils, meanwhile, will have to figure out a way to stymie Bangor’s top two lines, which is where depth may become a factor.

In the nightcap, Edward Little will host Mt. Ararat, a team the Red Eddies dismantled earlier this season, 9-0 in Brunswick.

These are not the same Eagles, though, as Belleau is quick to point out. This Mt. Ararat team is fresh off of a double-overtime thriller against Waterville, and will no doubt be flying out of the gate on Saturday.

Either way, if seeds hold, NYA will get its rematch with St. Dom’s, this time in Portland, and Lewiston will also get a rematch with Edward Little, a team that for two years has figured out every possible way to upend the Blue Devils.

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