By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer

Though they may hail from different towns, the players of the Huskies Youth Hockey team can all call themselves champions.

On Feb. 27 the Huskies beat the Bangor Freeze 3-1 to win the Bantam League state championship, capping off a regular season with 10 wins, five losses and three ties.

It was the third time the Huskies have won a state championship since the league was established in 1998.

“We played with a lot of intensity,” said Justin Reynolds, 14, of Scarborough.

The team, which consists of 13- and 14-year-old players from Scarborough, Gorham, Standish, Buxton, Hollis, Limington, Westbrook and Windham, will now advance to the New England sectionals March 18 to 20 where they will play teams from New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Head Coach Chris Plummer said he was confident in his team’s ability, but never could have predicted the level of success the Huskies would achieve.

“At the beginning of the season I knew we were going to have a good team, but I didn’t know we were going to win,” Plummer said.

He said the Huskies came out strong in the first period of the state championship with Colin Harvey, 14, of Gorham, scoring two goals before the Freeze had a chance to respond. A scoreless second period saw both teams playing solid defense, with goalie Ben Bragg, of Scarborough, protecting the net at all costs.

When the third period began the Freeze retaliated and scored an early goal, but it wasn’t long before Bradley Rockey of Scarborough answered back and secured the team’s 3-1 lead. With only minutes remaining, the Huskies knew they had clenched the title.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Kevin Caldwell, 14, of Scarborough.

Plummer agreed and said the team knew they would have to work hard for the state championship after facing the Freeze earlier in the playoffs.

“We wanted to stay out of the penalty box,” Plummer said. “I knew it was going to be a battle because we tied them in the tournament in Biddeford.”

Plummer said he attributes the team’s success to all players, although Bragg held a special distinction in the league: He had the fewest goals scored against any goalie in the state.

“Our goalie was fantastic all year long and that’s something that can either make you or break you,” Plummer said.

But it wasn’t an easy road getting to the state championship, Harvey said.

“We lost the first two games and tied the third in the playoffs then we started to work together as a team and we beat the number one seed Casco Bay,” he said.
That win was good enough to earn the team a shot in the state championship and the rest is history.

The win was also historic for another reason as well. It was one of the last games played at the Kennebec Ice Arena just days before the roof of the building collapsed March 2 under the weight of snow.

The Huskies won’t have to travel far to prove their prowess on the ice for next week’s championships – the sectionals will be held on their home rink at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

The team will play a best of three-game series, with the top four teams advancing to the semi-finals on Sunday morning. The final two will compete Sunday afternoon for the title.

Coach Plummer said competition at the New England sectionals will be stiff, but knows the team will be up for the challenge.

“These are supposed to be the best teams from the same division, so we know it’s going to be very tough,” Plummer said. “But I’m confident in our ability.”

Staff Writer Dan Aceto can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237.