PLYMOUTH, Mich.---The Sault Ste. Marie High School hockey team fell behind early and lost to the Farmington Falcons, 2-1, in the Division Three state championship game Saturday at CompuWare Arena in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth.
It was the Blue Devils' second straight loss in the state championship round.
Farmington (22-10-0) had upset the state's #1 team, Bloomfield Hills Cranbook, in the state quarterfinals as goaltender John Lethemon made 60 saves.
Lethemon was solid again in Saturday's win over the Blue Devils, just as he had been in a 4-2 win over the Escanaba Eskymos at a tournament in Chelsea last month. Lethemon stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced against Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday.
Blue Devil senior Blake Mastaw (#9, pictured above) scored the Soo's only goal, and it came 18 seconds into the second period to bring the Blue Devils to within 2-1.
Jason Petras scored both goals for Farmington.
Sault Ste. Marie, which beat Escanaba twice during the regular season, finished 25-3-2.
“We thought if we could play with a first-goal lead, that might take them out of their comfort zone and leave their goaltender hanging out on odd-man rushes,” Sault Coach John Ferroni said. “But they got the first goal, and we had to play a different style.
"They always thought, hey, we could steal this game. A 2-1 game is just one good shot on goal and you’re back tied again.”
There were only two penalties called in this game, one on each team.
CLICK HERE to see the MHSAA's on-line coverage of this game.
CLICK HERE to see all of the statistics from this game.
It was the Blue Devils' second straight loss in the state championship round.
Farmington (22-10-0) had upset the state's #1 team, Bloomfield Hills Cranbook, in the state quarterfinals as goaltender John Lethemon made 60 saves.
Lethemon was solid again in Saturday's win over the Blue Devils, just as he had been in a 4-2 win over the Escanaba Eskymos at a tournament in Chelsea last month. Lethemon stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced against Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday.
Sault senior Will Gauthier shoots.
Jason Petras scored both goals for Farmington.
Sault Ste. Marie, which beat Escanaba twice during the regular season, finished 25-3-2.
“We thought if we could play with a first-goal lead, that might take them out of their comfort zone and leave their goaltender hanging out on odd-man rushes,” Sault Coach John Ferroni said. “But they got the first goal, and we had to play a different style.
"They always thought, hey, we could steal this game. A 2-1 game is just one good shot on goal and you’re back tied again.”
There were only two penalties called in this game, one on each team.
CLICK HERE to see the MHSAA's on-line coverage of this game.
CLICK HERE to see all of the statistics from this game.
