HALLOWELL — After two periods of play and up by two goals, it seemed almost certain that Winslow/Gardiner/Cony/Messalonskee/Lawrence/Brewer/Erskine was moving on in its Class A North quarterfinal matchup against St. Dominic/Gray-New Gloucester/Winthrop/Monmouth.
But the Saints, in particular, forward West Duffy, were far from done.
Duffy led the Saints to a comeback, earning a hat trick while netting the game-tying and — eventually — game-winning goal, propelling St. Dom’s to a 4-3 win in a second overtime Wednesday night at the Ice Vault.
“That was the most stressful game I’ve ever played in,” Duffy said. “Especially in overtime, you just want to score, you just want to end it. You can’t just give up, you’ve got to push it 100 percent of the time.”
No. 5 St. Dom’s (6-9) moves on to play No. 1 Lewiston on Saturday.
The Black Tigers (7-8-0) landed the first blow of the game late in the first periodwhen Jordin Williams knocked a shot past Abrianna White for a 1-0 lead. Duffy scored her first goal of the night just 22 seconds later, with an assist from Emma Roy, to tie the game 1-1 going into the first intermission.
The Black Tigers jumped ahead to 3-1 by the end of the second period, thanks to a nifty backhand goal from Williams, as well as a score on a wrist shot from Kaylyn Bourque. Williams was credited with an assist on Bourque’s goal.
Roy cut the lead to 3-2 with 11:23 left in the third period to start the St. Dom’s comeback, taking a shot from the corner that found its way through the legs of Black Tigers goalie Emma Michaud. With five minutes remaining, Duffy found the puck in a scrum in front of the net and knocked it past Michaud to tie the game 3-3.
“We never doubted that we were going to win that game,” Duffy said. “We never got down on ourselves. When we got in the locker room (during second intermission), it was ‘Hey, we’re in this game. We’ve got one period left, 15 minutes. That’s good enough for us. We can get this back.’ We just stayed positive and boosted each other up instead of pushing each other down. That’s what kept our team going.”
St. Dominic/Gray-NG/Winthrop/Monmouth’s West Duffy, left, scores the Saints first goal and ties the score 1-1 in the first period as Winslow/Gardiner/Brewer/Messalonskee/Lawrence/Erskine’s Jordin Williams (9) and goalie Emma Michaud look on during a Class A North girls hockey quarterfinal game Wednesday at the Camden National Bank Ice Vault in Hallowell. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“We always preached never giving up,” St. Dom’s head coach Paul Gosselin said. “That’s the kind of team we have. We’ve had good third periods in the past. We said, ‘Look, we’re playing well, we just haven’t had some puck luck. (The Black Tigers) have a good goalie, she’s excellent. We just had to get some shots on net and one by one, it happened.”
Neither team gained ground in the first overtime, but Duffy was able to notch the game-winner midway through the second overtime for the win.
“That was just an automatic stress reliever,” Duffy said. “When I saw it hit the back of the net, all the stress left my body. We all just wanted that one goal, and I didn’t care who scored. If felt good to score though, obviously. I was just happy to win for my team.”
White would end up with 19 saves for the Saints. Michaud was a workhorse in net for the Black Tigers, finishing with 34 saves. It was the third time this season the two teams had met, with the Saints picking up a win in each contest.
“Certainly not the ending we wanted, but I could not be prouder of those girls, it’s a family” Black Tigers head coach Bill Boardman said. “There’s not much I can say. They laid it out there and didn’t leave anything in the tank. They were running on empty (by the end). Super proud of those kids.”
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