By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

PORTLAND – They barely had time to spell the word momentum’ let alone utilize any of it.

After an Alex Tyburski goal early in the third period got St. Dom’s within one Tuesday, Cheverus answered just 30 seconds later. The Stags added another in a minute’s time as the rout was on in a 7-1 Western A quarterfinal hockey game.

“I thought after we got that goal we’d start picking up a lot of momentum,” said St. Dom’s coach John Pleau. “We had some mental errors, and it looked like we ran out of gas.”

The Saints struggled to create consistent offense against the Stags but trailed only 1-0 entering the final period. A Sam Johnson tally 24 seconds into the period on the power play made it 2-0, but the Saints showed signs of life with a goal at 2:57 of the period. While on the power play, the puck deflected off a defender’s skate, and Tyburski was right there to put it into an open net.

Any spark the Saints got from the goal was quickly doused by the Stags. Just 30 seconds later, Eugene Fitzpatrick scored off an odd-man rush, burying a pass from Andrew Pochebit on the left wing. Then at 3:37 of the period, Alex Arthur scored from the right circle following a rush off the face-off.

“That third goal by Fitzy was huge,” said Cheverus coach Jack Lowry. “That kind of gave us the gas we needed to get going again. We got two goals in a short period of time, and that kid of put the game away.”

Up 4-1, the Stags added goals by John Keneborus, Geno DiMillo and Sam Napolitano.

“It’s a little frustrating, but having the young team that we have, I’m hoping we’ll be back next year a little stronger and a little more experienced,” said Pleau, whose eighth-ranked team finished at 10-10-1.

Top-ranked Cheverus (18-2-1) had split with the Saints during the regular season, but outshot St. Dom’s 14-0 to start the game. The Saints didn’t get a shot on net until 5:06 remained in the period. St. Dom’s goaltender Brady Blackman kept the Saints in the game with 27 saves on 28 shots in the first two periods.

“He’s carried us most of the year,” said Pleau. “Tonight, he did a hell of a job. He faced a lot of quality shots. They don’t take random shots. They take quality shots. He was up to the task.”

Cheverus finally got one past Blackman on the power play with just 13 seconds left in the first. Jon Anton wristed one from the left circle.

“That’s just a killer,” said Pleau. “You lose all your momentum. Everyone gets down a little bit.”

The Saints were outshot 12-6 in the second period. The Stags forecheck limited St. Dom’s pressure, and the defense did a nice job keeping shots away from goaltender Casey Cox.

“We’ve been playing real solid, strong team defense all season,” said Lowry. “That’s been our focus and emphasis. It was more of the same tonight.”

Johnson’s shot from the right side just 24 seconds into the third period on the power play made it 2-0.