LEWISTON — For as many goals as Andy Miele scored in college for Miami of Ohio, and for as much offense as he’s generated for the Portland Pirates, he’d never once registered a hat trick in a collegiate or professional game.

Until Saturday.

Miele scored a goal in each period and added a pair of assists while Mark Visentin made 30 saves as the Pirates cruised to a 5-1 win over the Worcester Sharks in front of 1,860 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“It’s just one of those nights where you feel great, all the pucks bounce your way,” Miele said. “During warmups I felt good, and that just carried over to the game.”

Miele now has 10 goals on the season, and his five-point night Saturday nearly tied him for the franchise’s all-time record for points in a game (6), last achieved by Ryan Getzlaf when the Pirates were affiliated with Anaheim.

“(The hat trick) felt great, the win felt great and as a team that’s what we’re looking for,” Miele said. “To be able to help the team out like that is a good feeling.”

Pirates coach Ray Edwards has been looking for Miele to find his offensive rhythm after cooling off from a hot start to the season.

“He’s had a tough couple weeks, there’s been some stuff going on that nobody knows about,” Edwards said. “But he’s battled through it. He’s got a lot of character, and he’s a proud guy, and knows he can be a lot better. (Saturday) was one of those nights where it was a special night for him. He led us through his work ethic and his competitive level, and that’s what sparks it.”

Perhaps more impressive for Miele was the fact that he scored all three goals in different situations: even strength, shorthanded and on a power play.

“Everyone was just going,” Miele said. “I played with so many different guys tonight, and everyone was clicking. It’s just one of those nights where everything was going good, and that’s what we needed.”

Miele’s performance also overshadowed another solid start from Mark Visentin. With the game still tight through the first and second periods, he made some big, in-tight saves to make sure the Pirates retained their advantage.

Brandon Yip and Jordan Martinook also scored for Portland, which climbs to 10-9-1-4 with the win, and 4-5-0-3 at home. The win is the Pirates’ third in five games and the fifth consecutive game in which the team has earned at least a point.

“I think it was our best game in a long time,” Edwards said. “We finally played 60 minutes, the first time we’ve done that in a while, probably as far back as the win we had in Norfolk in a shootout. I’ve been pretty hard on our guys the last little while about being better and finding a way to do more in the game. Even though we’ve gotten points in some of these games, I haven;t felt like we’ve been at our best. (Saturday) was a way better effort.”

But Saturday belonged to Miele.

And it was his second effort that put the Pirates on the board in the first.

Miele followed a Worcester defender back to the Sharks’ blue line, poked the puck away and followed it to the left circle. Catching up to it, he corralled it on his forehand and ripped a wrister high glove. The puck ticked off Sateri’s trapper, fell behind him and rolled into the net.

Officials reviewed the goal, causing anxious moments for the hundreds of fans who’d already thrown stuffed animals onto the ice on Teddy Bear Toss night at the Colisee. The goal stood.

All of the stuffed toys collected from Saturday’s event are being donated to Lewiston-Auburn area first responders for distribution to families in the area.

Visentin stuck out his right pad and nearly did a split to keep the Sharks off the board at about the five-minute mark of the second period, stuffing a pair of in-close chances on Worcester’s first discernible pressure of the frame.

Yip ripped a shot past Sateri for his third of the season at 7:49 of the second.

Rostislav Klesla started the play with a keep-in at the left point. He fed the puck back to Miele at the left circle, who then wheeled it to the center slot for Yip, who was waiting untouched. Yip directed the shot high glove.

Portland added its third of the night at 11:36 of the second. This time, Miele converted a feed from Chris Brown into his second of the night and ninth of the season to push the home team’s lead to 3-0.

“We played faster (Saturday),” Edwards said. “We skated, we competed. We were just better. It looked more like the team we need to be.”

The Sharks wasted little time getting on the board in the third period. Camped in front of Visentin on the right post, Rylan Schwartz redirected a pass from Travis Oleksuk into the cage to spoil Visentin’s shutout bid an temporarily pull the Sharks within two.

Miele’s third of the night put the Pirates back in front by three at 4:26 of the third, and Martinook added a power play tally later in the third to cap the scoring.

“We just have to sort of bottle that game, and that’s the standard,” Edwards said.

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