LEWISTON — Zachary Chaisson hit the post in the opening seconds of double-overtime. In triple-overtime he hit the back of the net, sending third-seeded Scarborough past seventh-seeded Edward Little 3-2 in a Class A boys hockey semifinal Tuesday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Chaisson’s point shot eluded Edward Little freshman goalie Gage Ducharme 4:48 into the third overtime after Dawson Gendreau fed him from a faceoff to start a Red Storm power play.

“It’s always a tough shot being in that pressure and being in that situation, but I really ripped it and I really felt it, and I knew it was going to be right,” Chaisson said. “I ripped it at the right time, the right spot. Went in, we won the game.” 

“I knew it was going to be a battle, and it’s unfortunate we had that penalty, that really hurt us,” EL coach Norm Gagne said. “I was saying, ‘We got to get through this, we got to get through this,’ but it’s so hard. They’re a great team, and we knew that we were going to have to reach down.” 

In the opening seconds of the second extra session Chaisson rang the far post, then was stopped by Ducharme on another opening-minute shot as the Red Storm (15-4-1) finished up a power play. 

“You know, we can’t make them all in,” Chaisson said. “It’s just work and work and work until we get that chance, and I got that chance. I know I didn’t make it, I got frustrated, I started over, came back, scored.”

In Saturday’s Class A state title game, Scarborough will face Lewiston, which defeated South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport 5-1 in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

The Red Storm started to find life in the first overtime after the Red Eddies (10-11) had the first five shots of the period, forcing Scarborough goalie Peter O’Brien to have to pounce on the puck after stopping Reed Chapman and Aiden Gonzalez. Scarborough went on its third power play moments later. 

“He’s just a competitor, he’s just an absolute competitor. He’s a big-time player,” Scarborough coach Jake Brown said of O’Brien. “Talk about a guy that’s just calm under pressure.” 

The Red Storm were 2-for-4 on the power play, the Red Eddies 1-for-2. 

Edward Little scored the go-ahead goal on the man-advantage in the second period when Wesley Clements pushed in a loose puck after O’Brien stopped Shawn Allen’s point shot off a pass from Gonzalez. The Red Eddies’ next power play lasted just 17 seconds before a penalty of their own ended that opportunity. 

“I was a little disappointed that we took that penalty on that second power play that we had, because I thought our power play has been really good and we would have had a good chance at maybe going up by two,” Gagne said. 

Scarborough scored the game-tying goal that sent the game to overtime midway through the third period on a power play. Cam Budway’s point shot went off Ducharme and in, with Chaisson providing the assist. 

“I think that entire game that we had a lot of chances. I really liked how we still had a good mentality, we weren’t panicking. I thought there was a good sense of calmness, which for a group of guys that’s never been in a game like this, that was really good to see,” Brown said. 

The Red Eddies scored the game’s first goal 8:28 in on a Dylan Campbell point shot, with Colin Merritt assisting. Cory Schular redirected a James Lilley point shot to tie it for Scarborough late in the opening period. 

O’Brien made 28 saves in the win, while Ducharme stopped 30 of 33 shots in the loss. 

“We both had our chances, but I’ll tell you, my goalie played out of his mind,” Gagne said. 

“I’m proud of my kids, that we came back from a 1-10 season to this and took the third-place team to triple overtime. You can’t ask for anything more. I told the kids I’m really proud of them,” Gagne added. “It’s just unfortunate we took that penalty (in triple overtime). He got overly aggressive, and you know, when you’re tired sometimes you just go over the edge.” 

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