AUBURN — Any worry Leavitt/Edward Little/Poland would have tired legs Saturday against Mt. Ararat was quickly thrown out the window.
Less than 24 hours removed from a hard-fought victory over defending state champion Scarborough, the Red Hornets found their legs early and remained unbeaten with a 7-0 victory over the Eagles at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“We’ve done a lot of conditioning right from the beginning,” Red Hornets sophomore Allison MacKenzie said. “The first week was all conditioning, so I don’t think there was any concern.”
Leavitt/EL/Poland (5-0) received goal contributions from five different skaters and seven players recorded at least a point. MacKenzie and Kylie Bureau each netted a pair of goals, Haley Frohlich recorded a goal and an assist and Danica Nadeau registered two assists.
“That’s one of the things I’m proudest of,” Red Hornets coach Shon Collins said. “We only had two girls that scored two, and to have five different goal scorers, it shows the whole team is contributing and people aren’t being selfish.”
MacKenzie opening the scoring spree 3:16 into the game on an assist from Mariah Vaillancourt and Frohlich lit the lamp less than two minutes later.
Saige Arseneault and Bureau scored 35 seconds apart mid way through the opening frame for a 4-0 advantage.
“The girls came out flying right off the bat,” Collins said. “We showed some great energy, really controlled the play right off, did some good things.”
The Red Hornets made good on their first power play of the game. Just 16 seconds into a roughing penalty by Mt. Ararat’s Isabel Burch, Emma Martineau buried a puck past Eagles goaltender Alison Nolan for a 5-0 lead 2:46 into the second period.
Bureau netted her second of the game with 6:08 remaining in the second and MacKenzie added her second in the final minute of regulation. The seven-goal outburst matched a season high dating back to the season opener against Winslow. That was the last time the Red Hornets pitched a shutout, as well.
“Since we had a lead we stayed classy and worked on things that we might not be able to do in other games,” Bureau said. “We worked on cycling and getting the new players in the game that don’t get to play a lot.”
After back-to-back tight games against Scarborough and Falmouth, Saturday’s tilt was a change of pace. With the outcome decided early, the Red Hornets used it to their advantage.
“We’re working on getting some of our newer girls time and also working on our systems we’ve been working on and getting ready for the rest of the season,” MacKenzie said.
The Red Hornets have a tough week ahead as they head on the road to face Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete on Wednesday and rival Lewiston on Saturday.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
