LSM Wins Philippe H. Bouthillier Hockey Classic In Epic Shootout
Lebanon-Stevens-Mascoma spent some time on the other side of the river after the holidays at the Philippe H. Bouthillier Hockey Classic hosted by Hartford High School and came away with a little extra hardware for their efforts.
On Wednesday evening, the Raiders faced Woodstock.
Sophomore CJ Gogan opened the scoring early for LSM, when he netted his first high school goal off a rebound from the senior captain, Jack Clary. This would ultimately prove to be the game-winner, but LSM tacked on a few extras just to be sure.
Senior Paddy Mooney capped off a second-period breakaway with a top-shelf goal. Less than 20 seconds into the third period, Mascoma sophomore Mason Ballard buried a shorthanded goal to put the Raiders up three-nothing.
During another third-period Raider penalty kill, freshman Ben Fogg was able to swipe the puck free from the Woodstock attackers and go one-on-one with the Wasps goalie. The goalie was able to make the save against Fogg, but Fogg had Clary on his heels, who tapped in the rebound for the Raiders second shorthanded goal of the night.
Lebanon’s starting goalie, Evan George, logged his first shutout of the season, stopping all 14 shots he faced.
On Thursday night, LSM faced hosts Hartford High in the Championship matchup, and to call the game a thriller would be a momentous understatement.
Hartford scored first, but they wouldn’t lead for long. Mooney took the puck down the ice on the following play and tied things up on a wrist shot that sailed over Hartford’s Nunu Mayer’s shoulder. With just over six minutes left in the first, Ben Benes netted LSM’s second goal, giving the Raiders the lead. But the LSM lead was also short-lived.
Just before the end of the first, Hartford’s Ezra Mock knocked one past George, sending the teams into the locker rooms tied at two.
The next thirty minutes of regulation would be scoreless, though that doesn’t mean they weren’t exciting. Both teams battled hard for scoring chances. George made some incredible saves to keep his team in the game, and LSM fought off not one, but two different five vs three penalty kills.
But at the end of regulation, things were still gridlocked at two. LSM headed into overtime, but the eventual outcome would be the same. The Championship would be determined by a shootout.
Ballard led off for LSM, beating his former teammate Mayer with a wrist shot on the stick side. George came up with a huge stop against Mock, giving LSM round one.
Clary was LSM’s second shooter, but the puck got away from him, and while he managed to get a shot off, Mayer had no trouble stopping it. Park beat George high corner, giving Hartford round two, and once again tying things up.
Benes strolled in on Mayer and easily buried the puck in the glove-side corner, but Hartford’s Cavan Benjamin followed it up with almost an identical goal. The game remained locked.
Mooney, having already shown he can be deadly with his wrist shot, made quick work of sinking his shot. George came up with a huge stick save to prevent Hurricanes captain Nolan Morlock from keeping things tied. LSM took round four.
But Mayer made the save against Tank Christian, who had the chance to put the game away. Instead, Logan Caffrey tried to lift the puck over George’s blocker. George made the initial save, but a bad bounce sent the puck tumbling behind him into the net, leaving the teams tied again after the initial five rounds of the shootout.
Returning to the top of the lineup, Ballard took his position at center ice for a second time. He picked the same spot and buried the puck behind Mayer.
George stared down Mock again. Mock tried to go five-hole on George in the first round, but George denied him. This time, Mock attempted to go stick side, but George kicked it away, securing the LSM victory.
The Raiders had not won the Holiday Classic since 2014.
For their outstanding efforts in both the Woodstock and the Hartford games, Ballard, Clary, and George were named to the All-Tournament Team following the game.
