LEWISTON – These are the games that proponents of high school hockey reclassification don’t want you to see. Neither the winner nor the loser gains, we’re told, when a perpetually growing program is forced to gulp down its medicine while a big, bad, elite host holds the spoon.

Maybe. Maybe not. Once in about every 500 of those crossroads contests, though, the kids show up at a place like Androscoggin Bank Colisee at the appointed hour, and we’re given much, much more than a mutual lesson on how to win or lose gracefully by double digits and the grace of running time.

St. Dom’s needed two goals by C.J. Bergeron in the final 2:16 of regulation, and Spencer Teixiera’s disputed game-winner at 4:24 of overtime Wednesday night to swat away Deering, 6-5, and avert what likely would have stood up as the weightiest upset of this and many Class A campaigns.

“We have a tough schedule ahead of us,” said St. Dom’s senior tri-captain Codie Keene, who assisted both Bergeron goals. “We obviously have to play a lot better.”

Yes, Deering (2-3) actually entered the night with a higher winning percentage than St. Dom’s (now 3-3), and the Saints’ only league win since Dec. 13 was the forfeited reversal of a loss to Scarborough.

Weigh the teams’ tradition, trophy cases and strength of schedule, however, and it all defies comparison. St. Dom’s swept its three foes from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Quebec in last week’s Maine holiday classic. Deering dropped all three of its games in the giant tourney.

“I don’t think anybody expected us to come in here and be able to compete,” Deering coach Tim Holden said flatly.

But the Rams drummed up the perfect storm for St. Dom’s by converting almost every legitimate scoring opportunity and watching goalkeeper Andrew Jacobs make an astonishing 53 saves.

The more the Saints expanded their eye-popping disparity on the shot chart, the more acrobatic Jacobs got, sweeping his glove, flailing his legs and occasionally falling to his backside to freeze the puck.

“They had great goaltending, and we didn’t get any tonight,” said St. Dom’s coach John Pleau. “A win’s a win. We needed to get one, and I’m happy we got one. But am I happy with the way we played? No.”

Teixiera’s game-winning bid off a rebound made it an even dozen shots to zip in the extra session and 59-15 overall.

Deering’s small but vocal crowd and a circle of purple-clad players protested that the Saints had a player in the crease when the puck crossed the line.

“They earned it,” Holden said. “I know the fans were yelling at the refs, but they earned it. The refs aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect.”

Although no assists were awarded on the game-winner, just about everyone on the ice for St. Dom’s took a whack after Jacobs fittingly kicked out two blistering bids from close range.

“There was just a scramble in front, and I was able to get my stick on it,” Teixiera said. “My line did a great job setting it up.”

Prior to the late flurry, three unanswered goals gave Deering a 5-3 advantage.

Dan Brown notched the equalizer at Max Wiley’s expense with 4:55 remaining in the second period. The Rams mustered only three shots in the third against replacement netminder Will Emerson, but two went in – the first by freshman Connor Petropoulos at 5:10, then an insurance deflection by Brody Cullenberg less than three minutes later.

Keene scored in the first minute of the game for St. Dom’s. Ben Randall answered Joe Gildart’s strike with an unassisted goal as the Saints fought off a 5-on-3 shortage and took a 2-1 lead after one.

“I don’t know if we thought it would be a cakewalk when we scored early, or what,” Pleau said.

Nick Bartlett evened the game again in the second period. Simon Hebert later cashed in assists from Bergeron and Randall one second after a power play expired, temporarily reclaiming the lead for the Saints.