The York-Biddeford-Old Orchard Beach cooperative hockey team received second-period goals from seniors Henry Ober, Bronson Eldredge and Brett Aceto to build a 3-0 lead and held off a rally by the youthful Hampden Academy-Ellsworth-Mount Desert Island-Nokomis of Newport coop team to edge the Broncos 3-2 in the state Class B championship game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Saturday afternoon.
York’s state title was its first since 2011 and Hampden has never won a state championship and was playing in its first state game since 2003.
The senior-heavy Wildcats concluded an 18-4 season while the Broncos finished up at 14-7-1 after losing for just the second time in their last 10 games.
Sophomore Wyatt Allen and freshman Aiden MacFarline scored for Hampden Academy.
York senior goalie Connor Thibault finished with 25 saves while Hampden Academy senior Aiden Surran wound up with 23 stops.
Hampden Academy has nine freshmen and sophomores among its top 10 forwards and has two freshmen defensemen.
All three York goals came in the first 8:28 of the middle period.
Ober opened the scoring early in the second period when he scored off the rebound of a Lucas Kumin shot from the bottom of the left circle.
Eldredge expanded the lead with his fourth goal in four playoff games as he passed the puck out from behind the net and it deflected in off a skate.
Eldredge had a goal in all four York playoff victories.
It was a power play goal and was unassisted.
Aceto made it 3-0 with his team-leading 19th goal of the campaign.
Joshua Neal left a drop pass for him in the right faceoff circle and he beat Surran with a rising wrist shot.
“We had a Little League inning,” said HA coach Zach Wilson, referring to the three-goal flurry where mistakes were made. “But I can’t stress how proud I am of the team, especially being so young.”
Allen, who scored the triple-overtime game-winner in the 2-1 Class B North championship game victory over Messalonskee of Oakland, got one back for the Broncos late in the middle period when he wheeled around in the left faceoff circle and snapped the puck past Thibault for his 12th of the season.
Senior defenseman and co-captain Gunnar Weil kept the puck in the offensive zone at the blue line and earned an assist on Allen’s goal.
The Broncos went on the power play in the waning seconds of the second period with a large carryover into the third but couldn’t convert.
With four and a half minutes remaining, Thibault came way off his line to make an important save off Allen, who was wide open after receiving a nice cross-ice pass from freshman center Henry Armell.
The Broncos pulled Surran in favor of an extra attacker with over three minutes left and it paid dividends when MacFarline collected his 15th of the season off a rebound with 1:28 to go. Armell picked up an assist.
But the Broncos, who rallied with game-tying third-period goals in their Class B North victories over Cony of Augusta and Messalonskee, couldn’t get the equalizer this time.
