Edward Little was down for the count. Trailing 2-0 to the Maranacook/Hall-Dale/Winthrop Hawks, a team the Eddies desperately needed to defeat in order to climb the standings, Edward Little was pushing for a goal to get back into the game. The goal just wouldn’t come.
And then there was a penalty. A big one. A five-minute major put the Eddies on an unreleasable power play. They could score at will and remain on the power play.
And they did. Four times.
“It was pretty crazy,” EL coach Craig Latuscha admitted. “The guys have been playing really well lately, and the power play’s been doing really well. To score five goals in five minutes, that was awesome.”
Four of those goals cam on the power play, and one came within seconds of its completion, turning a 2-0 MHW lead into a 5-2 Eddies advantage. EL hung on for a 5-4 victory and that win, coupled with wins over Gorham on the road and Brunswick at home, vaulted the Eddies from eighth to sixth in the Heal Point standings, and they now sit within striking distance of the fourth spot in Eastern A, which would mean a home playoff game in the quarterfinals against, likely, MHW or Cony.
“You never know, but we’ve been doing pretty well the past couple of weeks,” Latuscha said. “We’ve got the guys all back, our goaltender has been playing really well and we’re staying disciplined. I think we’ve had only two penalties in the past two games, where we were getting seven or eight at the beginning of the season.”
The Eddies have four games remaining on the schedule, including a pair against Poland/Gray-New Gloucester, a team that shares Ingersoll Arena with Edward Little.
“They haven’t won too many games this year, but any time you play a team from the same rink, anything can happen,” Latuscha said. “It’s home for both teams, so we’re both comfortable here.”
EL also faces Cony, which has 10 wins this season and is one of two teams (MHW is the other) standings between the Eddies and the fourth seed in Eastern A.
“That one’s worth a lot of points, too, but all of our games we have left are important,” Latuscha said.
Leading the way
Speaking of the MHW Hawks, a pair of them are the top scorers in Eastern Maine Class A, thanks to a strong overall season from the team. Dan Condon leads all of Eastern A with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points in 14 games, an average of better than two points per game. Matt Plourde, Condon’s teammate, is right behind him with nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points.
A pair of Edward Little skaters, Drew Lupardo and Jared Pelletier, are third and fourth in the East. Other area players in the top 10 include Cody Rodrigue of St. Dom’s in sixth, and Travis Landry and Brendon Pelletier of EL in ninth and 10th.
In Western Class A, C.J. Maksut is having a season for the record books. Already the top scorer in school history after an outburst earlier this season, Maksut now has 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points in 14 games, nearly three points per game. Teammate Bryan Dallaire is predictably second with 33 points, including 24 assists.
In Class B, Nick Breed of Cape Elizabeth has eclipsed even Maksut this season, recording 45 points — including 30 goals — in 14 games.
Stopping the skid
Leavitt Area High School’s boys’ squad snapped a losing skid with an emphatic win this week. The Hornets, mired in a seven-game skid during which opponents outscored them 53-12, broke out for seven goals of their own and defeated Gardiner, 7-3. Leavitt and Gardiner are currently the two teams in Western B that would miss the playoffs, but with Leavitt’s sudden ability to find the back of the net, there is a slight chance the Hornets can make a move in the season’s final couple of weeks. Greely, Yarmouth, Camden Hills and York are currently teams 2-5 in the standings, and are all on Leavitt’s schedule to finish the season. A pair of wins against those schools would greatly bolster the Hornets’ chances.
Still streaking
Lewiston High School has a chance at vengeance Saturday.
Lewiston hasn’t lost a game in quite some time, suffering its most recent defeat 11 games ago, in a home contest against Falmouth, a 6-1 setback. Since the the Blue Devils are 9-0-1, including wins over Class B giants York and Greely, as well as Class A regulars Biddeford (a win and a tie), Bangor (twice) and St. Dom’s, as well as rival Edward Little.
That game is slated for 8:10 p.m. in Falmouth.
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