AUBURN — Leavitt Area High School might not roll off the tongue with Cape Elizabeth, Greely and York as the prevailing powers in Class B hockey.

What the Hornets have put out in recent years is a string of competitive, playoff-caliber teams and rock-solid goaltenders. Judging from Saturday night’s early returns, the beat goes on.

Thanks in part to a brilliant effort by junior netminder Jake Olson, Leavitt pushed reigning Western Maine champion York to overtime before the Wildcats escaped from Ingersoll Arena with a 3-2 victory.

Wes Warner steered the puck past Olson from a tough angle 36 seconds into the extra session.

Not many other overtures at the net eluded Olson, who made 33 saves in his first varsity start.

“Wednesday of this week, we weren’t even sure he was going to be able to play,” Leavitt coach Josh Gregoire said of Olson, who underwent tests for mononucleosis.

When the bloodwork came back negative, Olson was cleared to play.

And perform he did, allowing only goals in the first and last minute of the second period prior to Warner’s game-winner.

“We were a little let down by our scoring results, but we never stopped playing,” York coach Michael Vessey said. “We hit three or four different posts. Their goalie was phenomenal.”

Not to be outdone, York backstop Alex Ahrikenchikh (13 saves) singlehandedly prevented the Hornets from springing the upset in regulation.

Warner hauled down Cooper Legee on a breakaway with 6:43 remaining. After a brief conference, the officials awarded Legee a penalty shot.

Legee didn’t unleash his attempt until the last second. The puck never left the ice, and Ahrikenchikh pushed it away with his pads to preserve the tie.

There were multiple additional chances at each end. Craig Decato rang the right post for York with three minutes to go. Kevin Theiss answered with a bid from the left circle, denied by Ahrikenchikh’s glove.

York’s Shane Hughes and Leavitt’s Ian Durgin each had an uncontested shot in the final 30 seconds.

“Give them credit. They came out and played very hard. They never quit,” Vessey said of Leavitt. “They worked continuously, even when we were dominating play at times in the first two periods.”

Despite a 29-8 disparity in shots to that point, York needed the bookend goals to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

Anthony Figlioli broke the standoff, emerging from a scramble in front of Olson to put the Wildcats on the board at the 41-second mark. Olson denied Decato’s initial offering but couldn’t stop Figlioli from stuffing home the rebound.

Durgin’s long-range bid from the left point gave Leavitt the equalizer with 1:04 left in the period. Legee landed the assist.

The Hornets’ celebration lasted less than a minute before Connor O’Brien put York back in front with 6.8 seconds remaining. Figlioli and Decato set it up.

“Hockey is a game of momentum,” Gregoire said. “It’s tough, but I thought our kids regrouped really well.”

Leavitt pulled even again on the power play at 1:44 of the third period. Nick Allen deflected Jacob Gladu’s blast from the blue line off Ahrikenchikh’s pads.

In addition to Olson’s strength in goal, Durgin, Theiss, Korey Mulherin and Devin McMahan blocked shots in the defensive zone for the Hornets.

Josh Chouinard, Durgin, Legee, Clay Rowland and Theiss were instrumental in killing a pair of York power plays.

“York is a great team. They play disciplined hockey,” Gregoire said. “Our guys hung tough after a first period wherer they put up a 14-3 advantage in shots. We tried to regroup, and I think we did a pretty good job the rest of the game.”

[email protected]