With Camden Hills keeper Aidan Gordon forced to make only eight saves in a battle of two teams fighting for playoff positioning, the Raiders were in trouble.

Seven different Camden Hills players combined for eight goals and Gordon allowed only three to get past him as the Windjammers sailed past the Raiders 8-3 for an important win Wednesday.

“We’ve made a point, all week long, if the other team’s goalie has to make more than 11 saves, we’re 3-0,” Oak Hill coach Dan Brannigan said. “When the other goalie has to make less than 11 saves, we haven’t won. That says it all.”

“This team for us has always been a good match,” Camden Hills coach Mark Hannibal said. “I’ve always felt like we run neck-and-neck, and last year when we came here, they got the lead and we kept nipping at their heels the whole way, but we couldn’t really catch them or tie it up. I knew we could hang with them.”

The Windjammers (4-4) started the day just behind the Raiders (3-6) in the standings, but leapfrogged them with the victory.

Depth was Camden Hills’ friend in this game, as the Windjammers rolled constant substitutions into the game to keep the tem’s legs fresh. With a handful of Oak Hill players missing for a variety of reasons, the extra bodies on the sidelines played to the visitors’ favor.

“Our kids are in good shape, they’re in good shape,” Hannibal said. “We have a lot of kids, and we just kept running them. We saw they didn’t have as many subs.”

And that was a much easier task after running out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on the strength of goals from Marshall Spear, Jonah Cameron and Cyrus Demmons.

“And we have kids who can hold that lead,” Hannibal said. “We might not add to it, but at least they can hold it for you so your other guys can refuel and take a little break.”

Camden Hills also held Oak Hill to just five total shots in the first quarter, and 16 in the half, with only four of those requiring Gordon to make a save.

“We don’t shoot enough, it comes down to that, plain and simple,” Brannigan said.

When the score remained 3-0 at the half, Hannibal had a message for his players.

“We played Morse, we were up by four at halftime, and let it slip away in the second half,” Hannibal said. “That leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You’ve just got to keep playing hard until it’s over.”

The Windjammers extended their lead to 7-1 in the third before Oak Hill started finding some offense in the fourth. Kaleb Sturtevant finished with two goals for the Raiders, and Kyle Flaherty had the third in the closing minutes to cap the scoring.

“We hung with Maranacook, we hung with Gardiner, we’ve hung with the best teams we’ve played,” Brannigan said. “But when we don’t shoot the ball, we can’t score goals.”

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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