Perhaps the ghosts have left the Colisee and supplanted themselves in the Cumberland County Civic Center. St. Dom’s could use them there.

For the second consecutive year, the Saints travel to Portland to take on North Yarmouth Academy in the Class A Western final on Tuesday. The Panthers will be looking for their second consecutive crown and their last as a member of the Maine Principal’s Association, at least in hockey.

The Saints have been smitten in recent years when playing at the Civic Center, losing three years ago to Portland, two years ago to Cheverus and last year to NYA.

“We’ve had our share of success at that building,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Boucher said. “We’ve also had our share of losses. In the last two years, those other teams were the clear favorite to win. We never gave up, and they were close games, but we ended up losing to the favorites.”

Adversity and overcoming it seems to be a hallmark for the Saints.

When St. Dom’s started the season, there were just four seniors considered impact players. But despite traditionally slow starts, the Saints stayed consistent all season. Tyler Martin, Jon Rutt and Josh Dwinal emerged as one of the top lines in the state, and they played No. 2 behind Shawn Longley, A.J. Babineau and Erik Rousseau. Now, Babineau, one of the team’s captains, is out. Enter Cam Robichaud, a rugged freshman power forward with hockey sense.

“Certainly we’ve been pleased with the play of all of our top three lines,” Boucher said. “Those kids on the red line, Longley, Rousseau and Robichaud, have had three or four big games in the last few weeks.”

Led by Dan Bartlett and Jack Sidar, NYA has one of the most explosive offenses in the league. The Panthers’ play in transition rivals that of any other school in the state. On defense, Jake Edwards has been solid all season, and he can jump into the offense as well.

“Everyone of the top five teams in the state has a line like their top line,” Boucher said. “Our job, in fact on of the keys to the game on Tuesday, will be to force them outside and to make them take shots from the outside.”

The only step down from last season the Panthers might have made, at least on paper, is in goal. But Kevin Santillo played solid against Falmouth on Saturday, and has proven this season to be equal to most of the tasks set in front of him.

Class B: Fryeburg vs. Greely

Nobody saw this one coming. Nobody.

Anyone who says that they thought that the Class B Western final would include Greely and Fryeburg is obviously lying.

But that is OK because both teams proved on Saturday that they deserved to be there despite the odds.

Let’s start with Fryeburg. Four seasons ago, the team did not even exist at the varsity level. After two sub-.500 seasons during which the Raiders totalled eight wins, there was hope for a better year, but certainly not this good.

“I don’t care what kind of transfers we have,” Fryeburg coach Fred Apt said. “To bring this program in three years to this level is amazing. Our record shows that we have been there all year, and let me tell you, it was an amazing feeling (Saturday).”

So what happened?

Jordan DeLong, Kris Charlong and Nick Lawrence, to go along with returning scoring leader Bo Apt.

That lineup caused fits with several other teams during the regular season. Add in Joe Mango in goal, who had his coming-out party on Saturday with 43 saves against Cape Elizabeth, and Fryeburg all of a sudden looks scary.

“We may have the shortest bench of any team left in the playoffs,” Apt said. “We have basically two defensemen left (Apt moved Lawrence back to defense after Jason Randall went down with an injury) and one big forward line, but we won that game because of guys on the second line, too. They had a job to do it, and they did it well.”

But then again, Greely looks solid as well. The Rangers did knock off No. 2 Yarmouth on Saturday, and have defeated Cape Elizabeth this season.

“We beat them to open the season, way back in December,” Apt said. “At the time, I didn’t know whether or not it was a fluke, but both teams are very different now anyway.”

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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