AUBURN – Leavitt Area High School only suited up two seniors Monday night, making Zach Chouinard and Richard Thibault two of the few people at Ingersoll Arena with vivid memories of the Hornets’ last trip to the Western Class B semifinals.

Both came up huge and steered their program back to that desired destination.

Chouinard, a tri-captain and defenseman, scored a rare goal with 1:07 remaining in regulation to lift No. 4 Leavitt past No. 5 Maranacook/Monmouth, 3-2, in a predictably tight regional quarterfinal.

Steven Rouillard and Ryan Urquhart, both juniors, set up Chouinard’s blast from the point.

“When (Urquhart) passed it over to me, I just looked up and saw net,” Chouinard said. “Open net. I knew it was in, I guess. The beginning of the year, we were having a hard time, but now we’re hitting the net.”

Leavitt advanced to the semis at Portland Ice Arena for the second time in three years. The Hornets will face No. 1 York on Saturday. York swept the regular-season series, but the Hornets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the last meeting before surrendering the game-winner with seven seconds remaining.

Thibault, a three-year starter, made 25 saves for the Hornets (11-9-1). Rouillard registered a goal and two assists. Tyler Robitaille also scored for Leavitt.

But it was Chouinard’s offering that obliterated the possibility of overtime, a scary, sudden-death experience that can last all night at playoff time.

“It’s so nerve-wracking,” said Thibault, who made 11 stops and backstopped two penalty kills in the third period. “Seeing him score that goal felt so good.”

Having just watched its second power-play of the period expire, Maranacook/Monmouth (9-9-1) was still in an offensive frame of mind when Leavitt pushed the issue into the Black Bears’ defensive zone.

Rouillard pleased his coach and father, Ron, by working the puck back to his open teammates at the blue line.

“The biggest thing we tell them is move it to the ‘D’ and let them take the shots, if they’re open,” Ron Rouillard said. “(Chouinard) has only scored three or four goals for the season, but he’s a strong presence on the ice.”

Cory Palmer was a persistent threat for Maranacook-Monmouth, scoring both goals. He put the Black Bears on top with 1:58 remaining in the first period, stuffing home a rebound, before Robitaille tied it 54 seconds later with help from Rouillard and Chouinard.

Rouillard hooked up with Robitaille and Scott Cloutier on a power-play goal at 1:52 of the second period. Leavitt appeared to make it a two-goal game at 6:23 when Cloutier rang a shot off the underside of the crossbar. But the Hornets celebrated prematurely, and with the whistle never sounding and no goal awarded, Leavitt was fortunate that Thibault stopped Erik Ogren’s resulting breakaway bid.

The goal that wasn’t seemed to linger in the back of Leavitt’s mind throughout the second period, and that funk led to Palmer’s equalizer at 9:29.

“We were a little frustrated, but after that period we went in the locker room and kind of forgot about it,” Chouinard said. “We did not want to lose to this team.”

Last season, one that ended with a quarterfinal loss to Cape Elizabeth, Chouinard admitted that his team might have responded differently.

“We’ve got a lot better attitude towards hockey than in years past,” he said. “No hotheads. No bad penalties.”

“These guys, I don’t know, they struggled tonight, but they worked hard for this,” Coach Rouillard said. “It was a good win for them. I’m hoping we give (York) a good game.”