AUBURN — The Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland girls hockey’ team rolled to a fourth consecutive victory to open the season, 10-0 over the Mt. Ararat/Morse Eagles.
Nine different players registered a point for the Red Hornets on Wednesday at Norway Savings Bank Arena. Coach Dana Berube was impressed with his team’s puck movement against a young Mt. Ararat team, with the line of Caroline Audette, Caroline Tracey and Isabel Berube pacing the offense. Audette started the game with two early tallies.
“(Audette and Tracey) have been playing together pretty much every other year growing up,” said Coach Berube. “They’ve kind of had instant chemistry since the beginning of the season.”
The Red Hornets struck 1:09 into the game, with Audette redirecting Eve Martineau’s shot from the point. Audette’s second goal came just over five minutes later when a Tracey pass sent her in behind the defense, beating goalie Lily Schenk just under her blocker.
Schenk made a nice pad save off a Berube shot after the ensuing faceoff, but the Red Hornets quickly extended the lead. Taylor Cailler picked up the puck in her own zone and weaved through the Mt. Ararat defense, finishing on her backhand just 16 seconds after Audette’s goal.
Tracey added the fourth goal of the opening period for the Red Hornets, burying a pass from Audette. The Eagles’ best chance of the period came with under a minute remaining. Maddie Young intercepted a pass to get in behind the Red Hornets defense for a partial breakaway. Maranda Guimond denied Young’s initial shot and stopped a rebound attempt from Hannah Huston. The opening frame ended 4-0.
“We’ve got seven new freshmen on the team, but the girls have been playing well to start the year,” said Berube. “It’s always important to get a good start.”
“There’s lots to work on for sure, but I think we pressured them and had some chances,” said Mt. Ararat coach Dave Hunter. “Those odd-man rushes on us killed us.”
Mt. Ararat stifled the Red Hornets early in the second period, with Schenk answering when called upon for four saves early. Guimond matched the effort at the other end, withstanding some of the best pressure from Mt. Ararat. The Red Hornets found the back of the net again 6:12 into the period, with Audette setting up Berube for a tap-in.
Cailler added her second of the game just 23 seconds later. The Red Hornets extended the lead later in the period with goals only 20 seconds apart. Jillian Bergeron and Sophia Hartley added their names to the score sheet to push the lead to 8-0 with eight minutes left in the second period.
The Red Hornets’ most dynamic line of the night added one more. This time it was Berube maneuvering by a defender and finding Audette on the backdoor for a goal. Guimond faced five shots in the period, including an impressive pad save on a redirected shot from Alyssa Dau.
“(Guimond) is one of the better goalies, in our opinion, in the league,” said Berube. “She still got some good shots on net and she handled them pretty cleanly, so we’re very happy with it.”
Guimond held Mt. Ararat scoreless in the third period for the 14-save shutout. Tracey added her second goal of the game 4:13 into the period for the 10-0 final. Audette led the way for the Red Hornets with three goals and three assists. Tracey and Cailler each registered two goals and an assist, while Berube chipped in a goal and three assists.
The Red Hornets improve to 4-0 and will face Portland/Deering on Dec. 12 at home. Mt. Ararat falls to 0-4, but will hope to learn from a tough schedule early in the season.
“We felt pretty good about the first half of the first period. We were skating with them pretty well,” said Hunter. “We’re a fairly young team and trying to remain consistent.”
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