TOP LINE LEADS RALLY TO WIN

Top line leads rally to win
BANGOR, Maine — John Bapst hockey coach Andy Stephenson considers his line of sophomore Kodi Legassie between junior Tyler Wheeler and senior Logan Cyr-Ellis the best in the state.

The trio validated the coach’s contention on Thursday night as it combined for four goals and two assists as the Bangor-based Crusaders scored five unanswered goals to erase a three-goal deficit and beat Camden Hills 5-3 at Sawyer Arena.

Legassie and Wheeler each had two goals and Cyr-Ellis had a pair of assists for the 7-2-1 Crusaders, who notched their fourth straight win and avenged a 2-1 loss to the Windjammers on Dec. 19.

Camden Hills (6-2) had a four-game winning skein snapped.

Will Davee’s first-period goal and second-period goals by Katherine Orne and younger brother James Orne gave the Windjammers a 3-0 lead, but Nate Reese began the comeback at the 8:19 mark of the middle period and Legassie made it 3-2 just 57 seconds later.

Legassie tied it 7:02 into the third period before Wheeler scored what proved to be the game-winner at the 11:22 mark.

Wheeler iced it with an empty-net goal just seconds after John Bapst goalie Dan Sprague came out to make a clutch chest save off Jonah Cameron’s wrister from the middle of the slot.

“Their first line is good,” said Camden Hills coach Karl Enroth. “They rotated well and moved well. And their team played with more desperation than we did.”

“We got a lucky bounce (on the first goal), we came back and we were able to finish. We never gave up,” said Legassie.

“This was a huge win because they were one spot ahead of us (in the Heal Points standings) before the game,” said Wheeler. “That should move us up a lot in the standings and give us momentum and a lot confidence.”

Camden Hills outshot John Bapst 30-16 and had the better of the play but the Crusaders proved more opportunistic.

“All the shots we had were key shots right where we wanted them to be and we didn’t miss the net much,” said Wheeler.

Reese’s goal came off a puck that pinballed around in the slot. He was positioned to the left of goalie Jet Magri and stuffed it between the goalie’s pads.

Legassie then converted a Cyr-Ellis rebound by kicking the puck up to his stick and tucking a short backhander past Magri.

The Windjammers had nine of the first 10 shots of the third period but Sprague came up with some important saves and Legassie tied it by skating unattended out of the corner to Magri’s right and snapping a 15-foot wrister into the short-side corner.

“I was looking to pass but everyone was covered. I had an open shot and (Magri) was cheating over (to the far corner),” said Legassie.

Wheeler broke the tie after Cyr-Ellis did a nice job keeping the puck in at the point.

“He chipped it over to me off his backhand. I had it on my backhand and I saw the goalie cheating over (to the near post),” said Wheeler, whose rising backhander sailed over Magri’s stick into the far corner.

Davee had opened the scoring by flipping in his own rebound off a Cam Christie pass.

Katherine Orne shoveled home a rebound from 10 feet out and James Orne scored with a nice move as he beat a defenseman and pulled it around Sprague before depositing it into the net.

“We didn’t keep our foot on the gas,” said Camden Hills standout senior defenseman and co-captain Nick Czuchra. “They came at us hard and we didn’t respond. We moved the puck well but didn’t get enough good scoring opportunities in front.”

“John Bapst made enough plays in the second half of the game to win,” said Enroth.

photo credit: Ashley Conti
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