Bridgton Academy Captures 1st Maine Prep Cup
December 8, 2016
Last weekend, Bridgton Academy’s Junior Hockey team took part in the First Annual Maine Prep Cup, held at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn, NY. Four of the state’s top prep schools competed to be crowned the Maine Prep Cup Champions: Bridgton Academy, North Yarmouth Academy, Kents Hill School and Hebron Academy. On Sunday night, Bridgton took on rival Hebron Academy for the first game of the tournament. Right from puck drop Bridgton looked to make the first move and never look back. Before the ice had time to settle, forward Austin Roy scored a beautiful goal from the point, putting the Wolverines ahead 1-0. A few minutes later Kade Kaminski netted one of his own, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Wolverines. In the second period Kaiden Tubbert made a great play in neutral ice that lead him to goal and put one in the back of the net. To cap off the scoring, Ryan Brand added to the 3-1 lead late in the second period to put the boys up 4-1 past Hebron Academy. Beating Hebron pushed the Wolverines to the championship game against Kents Hill, who beat North Yarmouth Academy handily, 5-1.
The stage was set for Monday night’s championship faceoff between Bridgton Academy and Kents Hill. Tensions were high but Bridgton seemed like the team who wanted it more. As the first period was winding down Austin Roy got the puck and put a shot towards goal, after a wild deflection put the puck ten feet in the air, it found its way to the back of the net with some help by defenseman Jack Piersiak. After the intermission, the intensity ramped up more and more. The puck was moving well and many shots were taken. At times standing on his head was Bridgton goaltender, Max Monpetit, who made some crucial saves throughout. With just short of eight minutes left in the second, Alexander Jeanjean got the puck from Kade Kaminski and put it in the net. The lead was 2-0 for, until Hayden Mathias netted an empty net goal icing the win for the Wolverines. As the final horn sounded the boys quickly skated over to celebrate the win and shutout with Monpetit who saw his fair share of shots in the final period.
After the trophy was awarded and teams headed into the locker room, Bridgton Academy Junior Head Coach Mike Warde had this to say about the event: “A year ago we knew we had a good idea that needed to prove itself. Four Maine Prep Schools playing for their own trophy modeled after the Beanpot – the Maine Prep Cup … was launched. Marc Gosselin, Jason Paquin and the Norway Savings Bank Arena staff did an amazing job of promoting, marketing and game operations for all four schools. We believe the inaugural Maine Prep Cup was a huge success on many levels, but most importantly, helping our young men grow as this will be an experience they will remember for life. We look forward to the second annual Maine Prep Cup in the 2017-18 season.†We would like to thank Norway Savings Bank Arena and all the participants for an amazing tournament, and would like to congratulate our young men on two hard fought victories and the trophy.
