HALLOWELL — Nick Lacasse dove for the loose puck in the neutral zone and pushed it out to a fast-charging Bailey Clark, who finished the game-winning play in a hurry.

“The puck was loose and I picked it up,” Clark said. “I came in and saw an opening top left and put it there. Felt awesome.”

Clark scored with 41.9 seconds left in overtime to lift Maranacook/Winthrop to a 2-1 victory over Gardiner in a Western B game Thursday night at the Bank of Maine Ice Vault.

The goal came on a 3-on-1 rush after a turnover in the neutral zone.

“They gave up the puck and I dove for it,” Lacasse said. “Bailey was standing there in the neutral zone and we were off.”

Clark gained the offensive zone with Jared Hanson and ended the game with a quick shot.

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“I knew I had Jared but I was looking for a hole and when the goalie slid over I had it,” Clark said. “We wanted to beat Gardiner. We wanted this one. This gives us a lot of momentum.”

Zack Godbout also scored for the Hawks (1-1-0) while Jack Vickerson and Bailey Stockford had assists.

Alex Nadeau scored a power-play goal with 5 minutes, 38 seconds left in the third for Gardiner (0-2-0). Jacob Folsom and Tristen Hebert had the assists.

The goal forced the eight-minute overtime, but the Tigers couldn’t take advantage.

“It’s frustrating,” Gardiner coach Jeff Ross said. “It’s frustrating to give up that goal with 40 seconds left. It hurts. But we’ll bounce back.”

Maranacook/Winthrop opened the scoring when Godbout ripped the puck past Gardiner goalie Brad Moore with 1:25 left in the first period. Godbout, stationed at the right point, took a nice pass from Stockford and had a clean shooting lane. The sophomore then ripped a shot that beat Moore high to the blocker side.

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The Hawks nearly made it 2-0 just a minute later, but Moore came up with a great save on a point-blank shot from Hanson.

Moore kept Gardiner in the game with a few big saves, particularly early. He robbed Vickerson with 4:37 left in the first period. Vickerson, a freshman forward, came charging down the right wing and fired a high shot on net, which Moore stopped with his chest. The puck dropped in front of the goal line, but a Gardiner defenseman was able to clear it out of harm’s way.

It stayed 1-0 until Nadeau tied it with a power-play goal with 5:38 left in the third period. Nadeau took a pass from Folsom and stuffed the puck between the pads of Ehiorobo.

“We played better in the final two periods and overtime,” Ross said.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640bstewart@centralmaine.comTwitter: @billstewartkj


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