LEWISTON – Harrison Sheldon’s patience paid off for him in the third period Tuesday night.

The Greely senior forward settled a pass from teammate Drew Bowden, took time to swing the puck to his forehand and zeroed in on an open spot before wristing the game-winning shot over the left shoulder of York netminder Andrew Loane.

Sheldon’s second goal of the game gave the No. 1 Rangers a 2-1 win over the second-seeded Wildcats in the Western Class B final at the Colisee.

The Rangers (17-4) had a long power play in thanks to three successive penalties called on the Wildcats (15-6). Two short 5-on-3 advantages came up empty as did the first six shots on the power play.

“We had a bunch of shots in the third period,” said Sheldon, “but not anything up close. I knew I had a little time. We had wanted to shoot low and go for rebounds, but when you get in close you have to take advantage. I threw it up there and it snuck by.”

The game-winner came 8:56 into the third period. About a minute earlier, Greely head coach Barry Mothes called for a time out when the third penalty was called.

“I just wanted to give our first power-play unit a rest,” said Mothes.

“We wanted to stay fresh, and when you get power-play chances in a big game, you have to take advantage of them.”

York had few chances in the third with only three shots on goal, but the best opportunity went wide of the net in the closing seconds.

After pulling Loane with 48 seconds remaining, defenseman Dan Powers walked in from the point and fired a shot toward the goal. The puck landed in a scrum of players in front and landed on the stick of teammate Kyle Banfield who was just outside the left post area. His quick shot from six feet out went through the crease and caromed into the corner of the zone.

“I saw the puck come across the crease,” said York coach Michael Vessey. “We had (Greely goalie Billy) Bolduc beat. We just missed the net.”

The Wildcats led 1-0 after the first period. Their goal came on a slap shot by Christopher Meehean from the high slot area which appeared to deflect off a player in front and went into the upper left-hand corner of the goal above Bolduc’s shoulder.

The Rangers knotted the game at 1-1 earlier in the second period when Leland Copenhagen slid a pass across to a streaking Sheldon who had slipped behind the Wildcat defense.

Sheldon’s soft shot found an opening underneath Loane (32 saves).

Late in the middle period, the Wildcats had a great scoring chance thwarted by Bolduc (15 saves). Jake Posternak was behind the Greely defense and picked up a loose puck which had squirted out in front of Bolduc.

But before the junior forward could pull the trigger, Bolduc poke checked the puck out of harm’s way.

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