AUBURN — Once the Taylor Landry Show is on, if you’re a Leavitt/Edward Little girls’ hockey opponent, it’s the equivalent of a guilty-pleasure reality program or a chain-reaction crash that just happened on the highway.
You want to shut it off, or look away, but you can’t.
Biddeford experienced Wednesday what Landry’s rivals on the ice have learned, to their chagrin, for four years. One goal usually leads to two, which often becomes three.
Nope, make that four goals in the Red Hornets’ convincing 5-0 victory over the Tigers at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“One goal and she’s on a roll after that,” junior defender Danica Nadeau said. “She wanted to get more. I think that motivated everybody else.”
Landry scored her second and third goals of the afternoon in a seven-second span in the final minute of the second period to give the Red Hornets a 3-0 lead.
She added a fourth with help from Nadeau on the power play at 6:42 of the third. Nadeau notched an unassisted goal with 3:24 remaining.
Mariah Vaillancourt had two assists, while Haley Frohlich and Ally MacKenzie added one apiece for Leavitt-Little (10-2). All three are freshmen.
Tori Sanford made 10 saves for the Red Hornets to shut out the Tigers (7-5), who were Leavitt-Little’s best opponent in a while and the first in a challenging four-game stretch.
It was the Red Hornets’ ninth consecutive win.
“They’re (third) in the West right now. I think that was a big statement,” Leavitt-Little coach Shon Collins said. “We’ve got four games like this in a row. Them, Lewiston, Greely, Scarborough. This is the playoff push and is going to determine where we are for seeding.”
Leavitt-Little controlled the first two periods with the Nadeau-led defense but led only 1-0 with a minute remaining before intermission. Landry put away a rebound after Biddeford goalie Cassie Ellis denied MacKenzie’s initial bid at 2:15 of the first.
“The first period was a little iffy,” Landry said. “I think we regrouped for the second.”
Landry landed the hat trick and essentially put away the game in dizzying fashion.
First, she buried an offering from the slot with 52.4 seconds remaining in the middle stanza.
“When Haley got me the pass, I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to shoot.’ Coach said before the game to go high blocker side,” Landry said. “So that’s where I shot.”
There was more bad news for Biddeford when Vaillancourt won the ensuing faceoff and the puck kicked out to an uncontested Landry.
She beat Ellis low this time, just inside the far post from the left circle.
“When she put the one under the crossbar, after that she was just dialed-in and sniping it. The whole team seemed to pick up after that goal,” Collins said. “Our yellow line had just gone out and had a real good energy shift and controlled the puck and set the tempo. Those two shifts, especially at the end of the period, really gave us the momentum.”
Landry launched a wrist shot from the right corner for her fourth goal with the man-advantage in the third.
Nadeau took advantage of a breakdown in the Biddeford defensive zone before zigzagging around multiple Tigers to score her goal.
Biddeford’s best bids came early. Sanford stopped a blast from Cassidy Petit. Kaylee Younk also blocked a shot by Katherine Dumoulin, and MacKenzie hustled back to break up a late 2-on-1.
“Danica Nadeau is the rock back there,” Collins said. “She’s the only upperclassman with three freshmen out there. She’s the one who sets the tempo for the whole group.”
“We were passing the puck well,” Nadeau noted. “We didn’t let anyone by us. I think that was key to the game.”
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