By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The ever-expanding world of Class A hockey tinkered with its tiered schedule, hoping not to waste time or hurt morale with lopsided, football-like scores.

When the almighty Heal Points forced one of those dreaded couplings in the preliminary round of the Western Maine playoffs, however, it delivered more drama than drudgery. Tradition-rich St. Dom’s needed a short-handed goal by Sheldon Roy with 5:51 remaining to put away neophyte Noble, 4-2, on Friday afternoon at Central Maine Civic Center.

Alex Tyburski scored two goals and Nick Stalford added another for the No. 8 Saints (10-9-1), who will visit top-seeded reigning state champion Cheverus in the quarterfinals Tuesday night. That one won’t be any easier to handicap: The Saints handed the Stags one of their two regular-season losses and lost the rematch by one goal in the final minute of regulation.

“We seem to play up or down to the level of our opposition, which is good now that we’re getting ready to play Cheverus,” said St. Dom’s coach John Pleau. “I think they’re more scared of us than we are of them.”

No. 9 Noble (12-7) showed no fear, awe or reverence for St. Dom’s or its two dozen state championships. The Knights have been a varsity program for only two years, reaching the tournament in each season. While St. Dom’s battled traditional, top-shelf rivals Cheverus, Lewiston and Waterville, the Knights beat South Portland, Deering and Gray-New Gloucester/Poland while struggling to stay competitive with the likes of Gorham and Kennebunk.

Neither recent nor ancient history mattered much once the puck was dropped. Joe Young scored in the final minute to keep Noble even after one period, and Chris Salinger’s power-play strike at 1:02 of the third pulled the Knights within a goal at 3-2.

Two Saints’ infractions in the middle of the stanza gave Noble a puncher’s chance to tie the game and begin daydreaming about its own Miracle On Ice. But Tyler Martin, Ben Randall, Richard Paradis and Eric Bonawitz led the Saints’ prolonged penalty kill.

Roy eventually won a battle for the puck near his own blue line and broke away for a clean shot at Noble goaltender Alex Wright.

“I just kicked it into another gear,” said Roy, a junior who also assisted Tyburski’s second goal. “I wanted to score really bad.”

That aggressive streak also led to the goal that gave St. Dom’s the lead for good. Roy outmaneuvered Justin Clement behind the net and flipped the puck to a wide-open Tyburski at the goalmouth for a 2-1 advantage at 8:15 of the second.

“Sheldon Roy is one of our most improved players from the beginning of the season,” Pleau said. “Scoring a goal and playing the way he did today is a big confidence booster for him.”

St. Dom’s suited up only four players with significant post-season experience. One of them, senior captain Martin, collaborated with Lucas Ward to feed Stalford and make it a two-goal lead with 4:01 remaining in the middle session.

Tyburski stuffed home a dish from Ben Randall to put the Saints on the board first. Young answered less than three minutes later, dispelling any notion of this being a game between the haves and have-nots.

“We knew they had some good players, but we didn’t expect this,” Tyburski said. “It’s anybody’s game in the playoffs.”

Wright made 39 saves to keep Noble within striking distance. Brady Blackman turned away 23 shots for the Saints.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said Pleau. “We definitely outplayed and out-shot them. I think it was good for us to play a prelim.”