AUBURN — St. Dominic Academy and Brunswick both opened their respective seasons with big wins, but when they faced off in the second game of the season Wednesday night only one team was going to keep its unbeaten start going, save for a tie.
Brunswick coach David Boucher said his team knew it had its hands full facing the defending state-champion Saints, and the game played out about how he thought it would, with St. Dom’s scoring a large handful of goals in an 11-1 girls’ hockey victory at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“We just got overmatched against St. Dom’s,” Boucher said. “We couldn’t stop them.”
Boucher was hoping his Dragons (1-1) would play a competitive game against the Saints (2-0), but the hosts jumped on the scoreboard soon after the opening whistle and never looked back.
Kristina Cornelio scored just 27 seconds into the contest, had a natural hat trick just a couple ticks after the six-minute mark of the first period, and finished with five goals.
“I think it definitely picked up the pace for us, and it’s always good to start scoring early if you can,” Cornelio said. “You don’t want to wait too long.
“I try to just get it on net if I can, if I have the opportunity. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”
Izzy Frenette provided the assist on the opening goal, which trickled past Brunswick goalie Marylyn Daniel. Avery Lutrzykowski assisted on the next two before slithering through the defense on an unassisted goal of her own to make it 4-0 after one period of play.
“Historically, we’ve been a pretty good offensive team, so goals for us come pretty handily,” Saints coach Paul Gosselin said.
The goals stopped coming to start the second period. The Saints sent 16 shots Daniel’s way over the first 11 minutes of the middle frame but none went in.
“She’s a pretty good, little goalie,” Cornelio said. “I think we just weren’t placing our shots, or we weren’t taking the best shots from the right angles. I think we just had to take a moment to think about where we’re shooting, why we’re shooting, and just try to get it on the open areas.”
“We didn’t change what we’re doing,” Boucher said. “We were just executing better, and Marylyn played really well, and our defense was clearing rebounds.”
Boucher said the Saints have the type of offense that can score goals in a hurry, and they showed that potential over the final four minutes of the period. Bugsy Hammerton started the spree, then Frenette and Cornelio scored 13 seconds apart. Hammerton bookended the four-goal outburst that spanned just 2 minutes and 21 seconds.
“The stronger team, towards the end of any period, that’s when they really turn it on,” Boucher said.
At the opposite end of the ice, a Dragons team that scored seven goals in its opener only had five shots on goal through two periods. And sophomore sensation Jenna Brooks, who had five goals in that victory over Yarmouth/Freeport/Gray-New Gloucester, was held in check.
“It’s a good indication of our defensive play,” Gosselin said. “We put up a lot of goals, but we really have a strong defense.”
The offense kept coming for the Saints in the third period. Lutrzykowski, Cornelio and Emma Theriault all scored in the first half of the period before the Saints took their foot off the gas.
The Dragons kept pressing, and finally found the back of the net themselves: Beth Labbe scored with just over six minutes left, on an assist from Brooks.
“We talked about that before the third period, to try to prevent the shutout,” Boucher said. “You always take pride in not getting shut out.”
St. Dom’s finished with a 50-11 advantage in shots on goal, and that included an even third period where each team had six on-target shots a piece. Payton Winslow made 10 saves for the Saints.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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