The Hampden Academy line of junior center Keith Brooks between junior left wing Matthew Shayne and sophomore right wing Lucas Dunn has developed a chemistry since the three began playing together at the end of last season.
It was evident on Wednesday night as they combined for three goals and seven assists to lead the Broncos to an entertaining 5-2 Class B North victory over Old Town-Orono at Sawyer Arena in Bangor in a game that featured end-to-end action.
Brooks had two goals and an assist and Dunn had two assists.
Junior defenseman Tucker Leland had the other two goals for Hampden Academy as the Broncos improved to 2-1-1 while Old Town-Orono fell to 1-2.
“Hampden is a pretty good team. Their first line is real, real good and if you don’t keep them in check, they will make you pay,” said Old Town-Orono coach Chris Thurlow, whose inexperienced team graduated 14 seniors off last year’s team.
“I love this line,” said Shayne, who figured into every Hampden goal, scoring one and assisting on the other four. “The chemistry is great. We have really come together since the end of last season.”
Brooks had two goals and an assist and Dunn had two assists.
Even though the first period was pretty evenly-played, the opportunistic Broncos built a 3-0 lead on goals by Leland, Shayne and Brooks.
Leland opened the scoring at the 2:43 mark as he took a pass from Shayne at the right point and quickly released a screened wrist shot that found its way through a maze of players and past Black Bear goalie Brock Parks. It was his first goal of the season.
Shayne made it 2-0 at the 8:24 mark when a loose puck found him in the low slot.
“A rebound came bouncing out in front. The puck was sitting in a couple of people’s feet and I whacked at it and it went five-hole,” said Shayne, whose goal was his second of the season.
Brooks capped the first-period scoring with 42 seconds left by beating Parks high to the blocker side from the low slot for his third of the campaign.
Dynamic junior left wing Dylan Davis scored both goals for the Black Bears in the second period and played virtually the entire game. He was a constant threat and was thwarted on several occasions by senior goalie Aaron Donovan. First-year Hampden Academy coach Zach Wilson called Davis a “special player.”
The speedy and crafty Davis cut the lead to 3-1 7:02 into the second period with a superb individual effort as he maneuvered past two Broncos before beating Donovan with a nice snap shot to the blocker side.
Brooks answered only 34 seconds later by spinning around and ripping a rising shot past Parks’ blocker from 20 feet out. But Davis again cut into the lead 1:53 later with another creative move as he evaded the Broncos before flipping a well-placed backhander behind Donovan. Nathan Culina assisted on the goal.
The Broncos did a stellar job protecting the lead in the third period and Leland iced it with a slap shot from the top of the left circle with 2:53 remaining.
Shayne pointed out that they talked about neutralizing Davis between the second and third periods by making sure the backcheckers were coming back to help out on him, lifting his stick with their sticks and not letting him go around them.
Donovan finished with 26 saves while Parks had 37 including 18 in the third period as the Broncos’ superior depth helped them tire the Black Bears.
Up next: Old Town-Orono will venture to Houlton to take on Houlton-Hodgdon on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. while the Broncos face Sawyer Arena mates John Bapst of Bangor on Jan. 6 at 6:30.
