On Thursday night, Walter Conrad showed that he is one of the best hockey players in the State of Maine. With a two-man advantage winding down, Conrad kept calling for the puck and Patrick Grant kept feeding him passes at the point. On his third blast from the blue line, Conrad found the back of the net to give the Clippers an exciting 4-3 victory just seconds after the penalties expired.
Throughout the game, Conrad shut down Cheverus’ forwards with tough defense and quickly transitioned the puck up the ice. Even with Conrad’s strong play, it was Dan Latham who made save after save to preserve the victory in the final minutes of the game.
Cheverus came into the game ranked second in the Class A South standings after a big overtime win against Falmouth. However, Yarmouth struck first as Anders Newburg scored with assists from Patrick Grant and Tyler Veilleux for a 1-0 lead. Yarmouth took the lead into the locker room at the end of the period.
In the second period, Yarmouth outplayed Cheverus, but neither team could not find the back of the net. The third period was a different story.
In the final period, Cheverus came out flying, but Yarmouth played solid defense and took a 2-0 lead as Bill Jacobs ripped a top corner shot past Jason Halvorsen for the unassisted tally.
Cheverus cut the lead in half with a power play goal from Sean Walsh and a minute later, evened the score with a tally by Jesse Cyr-Brophy.
Cheverus’ lead was short-lived as Patrick Grant dropped his shoulder and drove the net for a gritty goal that gave the lead back to the Clippers. However, a few minutes later, Cheverus tied the game again with a goal from Luke Trickey.
The frequent lead swings set the stage for Conrad’s heroics as he blasted home the game-winning goal off a nice feed Patrick Grant. But the game was not over.
The final minutes of the game were a mad scramble as Cheverus pressed and had a number shots that Latham turned aside. Latham finished the contest with 32 saves to keep the Clippers’ record perfect through the first 4 games of the season.
Yarmouth faces Cape Elizabeth at 4 pm on Monday, December 21st at Portland Ice Arena.
