BANGOR – When he was nine years old, Carl Buffington began playing hockey.

And it didn’t take long for him to decide he wanted to be a goalie.

“I liked the equipment. I thought goalies were so cool. I wanted to get some equipment like that,” laughed Buffington, the John Bapst High School senior goalie who hasn’t given opposing shooters much to laugh about this season.

Buffington, who transferred to the Bangor-based school from Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn. this year, has led the Crusaders to their first-ever Eastern Maine Class B schoolboy hockey tournament berth in their fifth year of existence.

The agile 6-foot-2, 210-pound netminder is 12-6 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. He has five shutouts.

John Bapst, the fifth seed, will travel to Sukee Arena in Winslow to take on No. 4 Messalonskee of Oakland in the 8 p.m. game on Saturday. Top-seeded Winslow will face No. 8 Hampden Academy at 6 p.m. at Sukee.

Two more quarterfinals will pit No. 3 Stearns of Millinocket against No. 6 Gardiner at 10:45 a.m. at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena, and No. 2 Brewer against No. 7 Presque Isle at Bouchard Arena in Brewer at 7 p.m.

Buffington said he wasn’t sure what to expect at John Bapst.

“I didn’t expect us to be in the playoffs. I can tell you that much. It’s been really fun,” said Buffington, who grew up in Bangor and played youth hockey in the area.

He is an angle goalie who is surprisingly quick for his size. He also handles the puck extremely well.

“He’s very solid. He’s one of the more fundamentally sound goalies that you’ll see,” said Messalonskee assistant John DelGuidice.”He’s one of the top goalies I’ve seen come out of the Class B ranks. He has the ability to determine the outcome of a game.”

“He’s a presence on the ice,” said Crusader co-captain Jared Grant.

“Everybody has a lot more confidence knowing he’s back there,” said Jared Ashley, the other JB co-captain.

Buffington says there is always room for improvement but acknowledged that he has been satisfied with his season.

“If the team is successful, I feel successful,” said Buffington, who has applied to Cornell, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington and Lee.

Speed merchant Mike Engert and goalie Ryan Ridky have been Messalonskee’s catalyst.

Stearns features linemates Josh Lynch and Justin Grant while Gardiner has been led by Luke Takatsu.

Linemates Mark Gunning and Seth Karter have sparked defending state B champ Winslow to 26 straight wins against Class B teams while Scott Tardif, Rob King and defenseman Jason Yehle have been Hampden’s standouts.

Brewer has been led by Ben Ellis, Jason Seavey and defenseman Trevor Watt while the Wildcats feature Doug Carlisle and Jason Straetz.