BANGOR — Experience won out over youthful exuberance Tuesday night, leaving one dressing room pleased with what it left on the ice and other still asking questions about itself.

No. 3 Bangor scored twice in the third period to pull away at Sawyer Arena, handing No. 6 Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth a 7-3 defeat in a Class A North boys hockey quarterfinal. Nick Boudreau scored twice and assisted on two other goals for Bangor, which will face No. 2 St. Dominic in the regional semifinals Saturday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.

Even in winning, Bangor coach Quinn Paradis was less than pleased with his team’s effort.

Bangor’s Jacob Munroe,, left, dives to try and stop Cony’s Collin Osborne during a Class A North quarterfinal game Tuesday night at Sawyer Arena in Bangor. Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans

“It wasn’t one of our better games,” Paradis said. “We got two power play goals, which I was happy about, but then we got slack in the d-zone. One thing goes right, and another thing goes wrong for us.”

David Brown also scored twice for Bangor.

Holding a two-goal lead midway through the third period, Bangor took ultimate control with Boudreau’s first of the night at the 8:30 mark.

Cony’s Tyrell Sousa just missed pulling off a glorious goal at one end before Boudreau cashed in on a two-on-none at the other end of the building. Bangor added an insurance goal with 1:09 remaining in regulation.

“I was proud of the kids,” Cony coach Shawn Johnson said. “It was composure, intensity and playing smart. I think we did a good job with those three things, and we gave them all we had.”

But Cony did not go down without a fight, not after falling behind by two goals late in the first period nor after giving up a fifth goal in the early stages of the second period to go down by three.

“We worked really hard. They got some lucky bounces in the end,” Cony senior defenseman Joey Arps said. “They had a lot of older kids, we’re a young team. They also had size, which kind of wore us out.”

Each time Bangor took control of the contest, the visitors had an answer.

Bangor, one of the preseason favorites in the region, took a 1-0 lead through Brown’s power-play goal at 3:03 of the opening frame, but Joey Arps equalized 68 seconds later on Cony’s first man advantage of the night. When Josh Sherwood made it 2-0 at the 6:52 mark, Tyrell Sousa countered for Cony 1:06 after that to even the score at 2-2.

BANGOR, ME – FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Cony High School’s Reed Hopkins (17) tries to keep control of the puck after being knocked to the ice by Bangor High School’s Zach Cowperthwaite (18) top left, as teammate Tyrell Lewis-Sousa (14) top right, follows with Bangor goalie Jacob Henry (31) waiting for the shot in the first period at Sawyer Arena in Bangor on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. (Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans/Staff Photographer) Michael G. Seamans

The break Bangor needed came in the final five minutes of the first, when the Rams were able to score twice — Higgs at 10:29 and Brown in the final minute — to head into the intermission with a 4-2 lead and a decided edge in shots on goal at 12-6. The totals were indicative of Bangor’s better play through the course of 15 minutes.

Bangor’s lead grew to 5-2 when Sean Hyatt took advantage of a bad Cony giveaway deep in its own zone at 3:39 of the second period.

Cony, though, refused to simply roll over.

Reed Hopkins’ four-on-four goal midway through the period not only gave Cony life at 5-3, but the Rams generated Grade A scoring chances during an extended spell of special teams play through the second half of the frame.

Related Stories