FALMOUTH — The playoffs are a time for stars to shine.
And shine they did Thursday night for No. 3 Greely/Gray-New Gloucester, which advanced with a 9-1 victory over sixth-seeded Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland in a North region girls’ hockey quarterfinal at Family Ice Center.
It’s the fourth year in a row that the Rangers have eliminated the Red Hornets.
The Rangers’ (16-3) top line, which accounted for all nine goals, got going early. Courtney Sullivan and Bridget Roberts fed fellow senior linemate Molly Horton 38 seconds in on a play that started when freshman Camilla Lattanzi’s shot from the point turned into a juicy rebound.
“It’s fun to watch them,” Rangers coach Nate Guerin said. “We talked about them playing their last game in this building and hopefully trying to make it something to celebrate, and they didn’t waste much time getting started.”
Sullivan scored the next two goals, four minutes in from Lattanzi and 12 minutes in from Roberts, to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead after one period.
Roberts had her turn lighting the lamp less than three minutes into the second. Sullivan completed her hat trick with an unassisted power-play goal just over four minutes in.
The Red Hornets (4-14-1) got on the board midway through the frame. Bri Doucette went the other way with the puck from her own blue line, but her breakaway attempt was initially stopped by Rangers goalie Jordyn Owens. Taylor Caillier trailed the play and put home the rebound to end Owens’ shutout.
Red Hornets goalie Manny Guimond saw plenty of action in the second — and caught plenty of grief from the Rangers’ student fan section sitting nearby. But those jeers soon turned to cheers for the opposing goalie when Guimond stopped both Roberts and Sullivan on counter chances in the final three minutes of the second. She stopped 16 of 18 shots in the period and made 36 saves in the game.
“It’s big for her because she’s still only a sophomore,” Red Hornets coach Dana Berube said. “(Assistant coach Kris Bennett) and I were actually joking on the bench of how much that motivated us when we were players.”
Sullivan got the better of Guimond again 15 seconds into the third, sliding a left-to-right shot under the netminder. The other two linemates followed 63 seconds later, with Roberts feeding Horton for her second goal. Then Horton completed her own hat trick with 11:23 left.
Roberts fed Sullivan with less than two minutes left to complete the scoring and the victory.
“We struggled to compete on a night-to-night basis,” Berube said. “Playoffs, yeah, (experience) is huge.
“We’re looking forward to next year. Turn the page quick and look to next year.”
Owens, who didn’t face a shot on goal in the third, finished with six saves.
The Rangers now face St. Dominic Academy in the semifinals. The Saints ousted the Rangers in the regional final each of the last two years before going on and winning the state championship.
“They’re pretty excited,” Guerin said. “It’s a good rivalry. It’s always a fun game, I think, for both teams. There’s a lot of emotion.”
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