AUBURN — Jaden Webster was at the right post at the right time twice for St. Dom’s on Wednesday.
Webster scored from the same spot early and late, and in between his senior classmate Alex Roy stopped all 18 shots he faced for the Saints in a 2-0 win over rival Edward Little at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“Alex got the (player of the game) for having the shutout, but he quickly said his first thank you was to Jaden for scoring those two goals,” Saints coach Dan D’Auteuil said.
The game wasn’t even a minute old when Webster was able to slide a shot under Red Eddies (1-8) freshman goalie Gage Ducharme 34 seconds in.
“He was diving for it, and I saw it go through the middle, so I was hoping it would go in,” Webster said. “And when I saw it go in I just started celebrating.”
Edward Little coach Norm Gagne said that giving up a goal in the first minute to St. Dom’s (6-3) for the second time this season was “really a kick in the gut.”
The Red Eddies had plenty of chances to tie the game in the first period, with three power plays and 12 total shots on goal, but nothing got past Roy.
“We had some chances on our power play,” Gagne said. “We moved the puck really well. We got some good shots on net. Their goalie was good.”
Instead, the Saints went into the first intermission with their 1-0 lead still intact.
“Basically, told them that they were lucky,” D’Auteuil said. “We really got lucky that period. It could have been a lot worse.”
St. Dom’s stayed out of the penalty box the rest of the way, and in the second period that effort was rewarded.
“I came in after second period and said, ‘Look, no penalties, what happened guys? You outshot them,'” D’Auteuil said.
After being outshot 12-4 in the first, the Saints had a 10-3 advantage in the second. An extended power play that included some 5-on-3 time and a five-minute major on EL helped the shot total.
No goals came during the man-advantage, however.
“A five-minute major, along with the 5-on-3, and still we killed that off. I mean, they showed a lot of grit tonight,” Gagne said.
“We kind of let them off the hook a little bit, but at least it kind of rested us a little bit,” D’Auteuil said.
Webster put the game away with 5:36 left by sending home a rebound of a Miles Frenette shot. Webster said he likes stationing himself at the right post because it “puts me right on my forehand, backdoor.”
The Red Eddies had a few late chances, most notably Aidan Gonzalez’s shot off Roy’s stick with less than three minutes to play.
“We need to be able to score,” Gagne said. “But we’re getting there, and we put a lot of good shots on net.”
Ducharme made 19 saves in net for EL, and Gagne said he thought the young goalie “played really well.”
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