St. Dom’s survives in OT after late collapse
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Tyler Martin was in a daze Friday. Fortunately for St. Dom’s, that daze only started to set in after he dropped in four goals against Cheverus.

Martin tipped home a Matt Manson shot from the left point and watched as the puck trickled through Cheverus netminder John Spring’s legs 2:53 into overtime to lift the Saints to a 6-5 win at the Colisee.

“I have no idea where I am right now,” Martin said after the game. “I don’t know where that came from. This is unbelievable.”

Using their size against a young, smaller Cheverus defense, Martin’s line was a catalyst for St. Dom’s all night.

“We are a very young team, a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Cheverus coach Jack Lowry said. “The future looks bright, and tonight just wasn’t our night.”

“Our line, it’s not like we are that much bigger,” Martin said. “We just always seem to know where the other people are on the ice all the time. This is the best line I have ever played on.”

Josh Dwinal (three assists) and Jon Rutt (three assists) also figured heavily in the scoring. The rest of the goals came off the stick of third-liner Pat Ouellette, who has seen action only sparingly throughout the season.

St. Dom’s entered the final frame with a slim 3-2 lead. It appeared that the Saints would run away with the game in the minutes that followed, as Ouellette notched his second goal of the night at 1:27 and Martin followed with his third to push the lead to 5-2.

“If there’s one thing we can say, it’s that we didn’t die out there tonight,” Lowry said. “We hung on and battled back.”

Bryan Lavoie, Neil Shelley and Henry Brown all scored goal in the final five minutes of the third period to knot the score, completing an improbable comeback. Brown tied the game with 30 seconds remaining to send it to overtime.

“We’ve been fighting all season,” Lowry said. “That was a great game, and there is nothing we have to be ashamed about.”

After four tight-checking minutes to open the game, the Saints opened the scoring.

Mike Perreault fired a shot that momentarily handcuffed Cheverus netminder Mason St. Hilaire. Ouellette picked up the rebound low in the right circle, waited for St. Hilaire to re-commit and found the top right corner empty, putting St. Dom’s ahead 1-0.

St. Dom’s added to its lead at 10:58 of the first on a short-side wrister by Martin after a nice feed from the high slot to the left faceoff circle by Dwinal.

In all, the Saints outshot the Stags 14-3, and had two power plays, but could not convert on either opportunity.

In the second, Cheverus climbed back within one at 3:44 when Jordan Tyson floated a weak backhander toward Blackman. Expecting the puck to drop, Blackman misplayed it and it sailed just under the crossbar.

As much as the Saints dominated play in the first period, the Stags had just as many chances in the second. Much of the action was centered in the St. Dom’s end, both prior to and following the Stags’ goal. Still, the Saints clung to their lead. Barely.

Cheverus did tie the score briefly when Kevin Marchesi broke in on a shorthanded bid. Defenseman Ryan Guerin attempted to field the pop-up in front of Blackman and knocked it into his own net, knotting the score at two.

Thirty seconds later, Martin scored his second of the night on a second rebound in front of St. Hilaire with the Saints on a power play to re-establish the lead just before the break. Dwinal recorded his second assist of the night on the play as well.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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