ORONO, Maine — Freshman goalie Camden Leighton made 27 saves and the John Bapst High School Crusaders received goals from Owen Marryatt, Cooper Lewis and Nick Needham to beat Messsalonskee of Oakland 3-1 and claim their first ever Class B North title.
Leighton turned in an exceptional performance as the Eagles had the better of the chances throughout the contest.
Messalonskee outshot John Bapst 28-19.
It was John Bapst’s eighth straight win and extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games (12-0-1). The Crusaders are now 19-1-1 and will play in Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. state title game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Messalonskee finished at 15-6.
Junior left wing Lewis’ ninth goal of the season, coming with just 1:50 left in the second period, proved to be the game-winner, breaking a 1-1 tie.
Marryatt broke down the right wing and fired a shot from the right faceoff circle that Messalonskee goalie Nathan Kirk kicked out with his pad.
But the rebound spilled over to the left circle and Lewis swept it into the half-empty net.
“I said before the period to shoot low on his pad because the puck will bounce out,” said Lewis. “He did exactly that and it went right to my stick and I buried it. It was so amazing.”
Senior defenseman Needham scored a crucial insurance goal with five minutes left in regulation when his snap shot from the point off a Marryatt faceoff win hit sophomore goalie Kirk, popped in the air and dropped behind him.
It was his 14th goal of the season.
“I was just trying to get it on net,” said Needham. “I got a good bounce. I think it hit his blocker and trickled up and over.”
Senior left wing Marryatt had opened the scoring in the first period but Messalonskee’s Owen Kirk equalized.
Messalonskee had the better of the play in the first period, outshooting the Crusaders 13-5.
But Leighton came up with a number of Grade-A (high-percentage) saves to enable the Crusaders to head the locker room deadlocked at 1-1.
Maryyatt opened the scoring with his 14th goal of the season just 2:55 mark into the game.
Owen Hart’s pass to him hit a stick but still landed in Marryatt’s path in the low slot.
Marryatt sliced right to left to create a shooting angle and roofed a backhander.
Just over two minutes later, both teams had breakaways.
Marryatt broke in alone on Kirk but the goalie made a nice blocker save and then Parker Grant threaded the needle with a pass to Kirk, who had slipped behind the Crusader defense.
Standout senior left wing Kirk tucked a shot along the ice between Leighton’s right skate and the post for his 44th of the campaign.
Kirk had another good chance later in the period with a screened wrist shot from the left point but Leighton made the save and then darted to his left to rob Tatum Doucette on the rebound.
Kirk finished with 16 stops including a handful of gems.
The Eagles were without talented junior defenseman Denny Martin (fractured elbow).
“We won that game with our strong defense,” said John Bapst senior defenseman Silas Comstock, who tried to “lock up” Owen Kirk when he had the puck.
“We tried to do (man-to-man) coverage on him,” said Marryatt. “We know he’s fast and a big body. He’ll drive it wide. We focused on him. He’s their big scorer.”.
In spite of the coverage, Kirk was still able to get off a number of shots that tested Leighton.
Leighton said he never doubted himself after allowing the Kirk goal.
“I never slowed down. I battled to the end,” said Leighton. “It wasn’t my best game but I found ways to improvise and help my team win.”
Leighton, who just turned 15, has stopped 53 of 54 shots he has faced in John Bapst’s three playoff wins.
“We all put it together as a team,” said Marryatt. “Camden played amazing for a freshman.”
“He was unreal. He kept us in that game,” said Needham.
“We ran into a hot goalie, a couple bounces went their way. The puck luck just wasn’t there,” said Messalonskee coach Dennis Martin. “Our guys worked their tails off. The system that they do got us and they capitalized on our mistakes. That’s how playoff hockey goes.”
“We gave it 110 percent,” said Kirk, Messaslonskee’s only senior who concluded his tremendous season with 67 points on 44 goals and 23 assists. “We just had a few things not go our way. John Bapst played a great game. You can’t deny that.
“They had a good game plan and we just didn’t match it. Their goalie played an amazing game, one of the best performances I’ve seen. He made some crucial saves. He played his butt off,” added Kirk.
