LEWISTON — The shots came early for Scarborough, but it took awhile for the goals to follow. Two finally came in the second period and two more in the third for a 4-1 victory over Cheverus in a Class A South boys’ hockey semifinal at Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday.
The top-ranked Red Storm (15-2-3) outshot the fourth-seeded Stags (9-10-1) 11-2 in the opening period, and another shot rang off the post, but the game was knotted at nothing apiece after the first 15 minutes.
Scarborough coach Norm Gagne told his team to remain patient during the first intermission after seeing all their shots stopped.
“We’re getting frustrated,” Gagne said. “We’re peppering this guy (Cheverus goalie Jason Halverson) and he’s doing a heck of a job. That kid played a real good game.”
One of the first Scarborough shots was a shot in the arm for Cheverus. Red Storm senior captain Matt Caron came skating in on Halverson, and the sophomore netminder poked away the chance five minutes in.
“Our goalie made a great save on (Caron) first period,” Cheverus coach Dan Lucas said. “I think it gave us a bit of a lift.”
The Red Storm finally got on the board five minutes into the second period off a faceoff. Caron won the faceoff to the right of the Cheverus goal, and Cam Nigro buried a shot past Cheverus goalie Halverson.
The Stags responded not long after, with Jesse Pierce beating Red Storm goalie Ross LeBlond from the left circle.
Any momentum heading Cheverus’s way after that goal didn’t last long. Just 1:31 later Colin Hayward sent in a shot from the left point and Cam Smith redirected it in to put Scarborough up for good.
Skylar Pettingill extended the Red Storm’s lead early in the third, winning the puck in a scrum in front of the net and putting it in.
Penalties dominated the rest of the period, including one against Scarborough with 3:25 to go. Cheverus called a timeout to set up its power play, but the Stags were held to just one shot.
“We did have our chances on the power play and we were just … I don’t know. I got frustrated watching it,” Lucas said. “We weren’t together on the power play.”
The end of the man-advantage became a double-whammy for Cheverus. Just seconds after the power play expired Caron sent a shot flying from his own left circle and found the back of the net for an empty-net, game-sealing goal.
“I thought that Matty Caron was a great leader for us,” Gagne said. “He had some really shifts out there.”
Lucas said he made his team aware of Caron, who he called the best center in the state, but didn’t necessarily build the game plan around stopping him. Yet, that’s exactly what Gagne did against Cheverus senior Luke Trickey, who like Caron was a Travis Roy Award semifinalist.
The Red Storm shut down Trickey as part of an overall solid defensive effort, holding the Stags to just 15 shots.
“I got to give a lot of credit to our kids for defense,” Gagne said. “We play good defense. That’s our motto is to play good D.”
Scarborough will have to continue that strong defensive play in the regional final against No. 2 Falmouth. The Yachtsmen have plenty of offensive talent, which they proved to the Red Storm in a 5-0 win to end the regular season.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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