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Falmouth defeats Thornton Academy in regional semifinal

(PHOTO: RAM Sport)

(PHOTO: RAM Sport)

LEWISTON – Henry Norris’ early third-period goal proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory for the Falmouth Yachtsmen over the Thornton Academy Trojans in a Class A South semifinal match at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“They played well,” said Falmouth’s coach Deron Barton. “It was anyone’s game all the way right down to the end.”

The Yachtsmen will move on to face the Scarborough Red Storm in a rematch of last year’s Class A West semifinal Tuesday night at the Colisee in the regional final.

“We came into this season 2-16 last season, that’s all we want to do is continue to take strides in the right direction,” said Thornton Academy’s coach Jamie Gagnon. “As the season progressed our goals kept changing and the bar kept getting raised.”

Robbie Armitage slid a pass to Norris, who was splitting between two defenders on a breakaway. Norris lifted the puck over the glove of the goalie on the breakaway to take a 3-2 lead.

With 2:13 remaining in the final period, Falmouth’s defenseman Reece Armitage skated to the penalty box after committing a slashing penalty.

The penalty killing unit stepped up big for the Yachtsmen as they allowed no shots on goal during the two-minute kill.

“Execute just like in practice, execute like we have all season,” said Barton. “We have had a great penalty kill all season, and we were fortunate.”

The final chance came for the Trojans with four seconds left as Owen Elliot took a shot in close that was stopped by the leg pads of goalie Spencer Pierce.

Freshman goaltender Seth Dube could only hold the floodgates for so long. After 14 shots for the Yachtsmen in the first period, Dube gave up a power play goal to Robbie Armitage.

“He’s a super super talented kid,” said Barton of the opposing goaltender. “He’s small, but he stays square to the puck, controls his rebounds the best he can for a freshman, outstanding. Can’t say enough about him.”

“Every interview I give I saw he’s fearless, and that’s exactly how he played again tonight,” said Trojan head coach Jamie Gagnon of his young goalie. . “He’s not afraid to get in front of anything.”

Chris Camelio entered the zone and moved the puck to Armitage near the right faceoff dot. Armitage skated towards the goal and backhanded a low shot into the net with 43.9 seconds remaining in the first period. Henry Norris also recorded an assist.

After getting outshot 14-7 in the first period, the Trojans skated faster, loosened their grip on their sticks, and started putting more shots on goal. They would score two in the second period on eight shots.

That was, of course after battling a fair amount of adversity.

Falmouth’s Reece Armitage, the twin brother of Robbie, got a pass from Henry Norris on the point and wristed a shot through traffic. The puck found a spot over the right shoulder of Dube to take the 2-0 lead early in the second. It was Falmouth’s first shot of the period

As time expired on a 5-on-3 man advantage for the Trojans, Reagan Wintle swung a shot on goal from near the goal line that went between the leg pads of Spencer Pierce. The goal came on the five-on-four man advantage with Owen Elliott assisting on the play.

A minute and four seconds after Wintle got his team on the board, Walsh Troiani-Gagner got the equalizer for Thornton Academy. Chase Wescott took a shot that was blocked by a Yachtsmen defender. Troiani-Gagner was in the perfect spot to pick the puck up and rifle it past the blocker of Pierce.

“It’s tournament hockey,” said Falmouth’s head coach Deron Barton. “Throw the regular season out. We knew what we were going to get with them. We knew they were an underrated team all season long. They’re well coached, they work hard, for them to come out and tie us up was not a surprise.”

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