AUBURN — St. Dominic/Winthrop/Monmouth team started slow but its offense was clicking by the end of the first period, and the Saints were on their way to a 10-0 girls hockey victory over Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland on Wednesday at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
“We have been working on systems a bit. So, I think (the girls) were a little bit tight and worried where they were supposed to be (on the ice),” Saints coach Paul Gosselin said. “Once they got used to being in their spots, they started skating a little bit better; it kind of opened up the ice (to make plays).”
Emily Andrews led the way with a hat trick and an assist, while Georgie Davidson and Gabby Allen each scored a pair of goals for the Saints (1-2).
St. Dom’s/Winthrop/Monmouth goalie Abrianna White stopped all 11 shots she saw in the shutout.
“I think why I was a little busy is because we did get a couple of penalties in the second period,” White said. “I think the team did (well) on what we did on penalty kills.”
The Red Hornets (0-2), meanwhile, were hampered by a lack of depth and experience.
“It’s hard when you don’t have the players you think you are going to have,” assistant coach Anne McIntire said. “We can’t fight the cold bug, so we have a couple of starters out, then you lose a defenseman to injury, then you lose a forward to injury. It makes it a little tough when half the bench is beginners and never played before.”
Also among the ill and out of action was head coach Dana Berube.
Davidson opened the scoring when Red Hornets goalie Emily Quinell kicked the puck to the right side boards, but Davidson was right there and shot the puck into the half-open net with 2:48 remaining in the first period.
“We work on (rebounds) in practice, and every now and then, it works,” Gosselin said. “It did for her.”
Gabby Allen’s shot beat the buzzer at the end of the first period, giving the Saints a 2-0 lead.
Gosselin said he was pleased with Allen’s heads-up play of shooting with little time left.
“She got the puck up on center ice and there were four seconds left, and I saw her go down the ice to take a shot — it went in,” Gosselin said.
Andrews notched her first goal by skating into the high slot and ripping a wrist shot past Quinell (21 saves) with 10:30 remaining in the middle frame.
Lauren Hanlon, who assisted on Allen’s goal in the first period, set up another goal when she made a cross-crease pass to Aiva Dorman for an easy tap goal with under three minutes remaining in the middle frame.
Andrews scored her second goal to extend St. Dom’s/Winthrop/Monmouth’s lead to 5-0 with one minute remaining until the second intermission.
The Red Hornets forced Saints’ goalie White to make seven of her 11 saves in the second period.
“She did a great job; it’s not always easy for a goalie because she didn’t get a lot of shots,” Gosselin said. “The ones she did have were challenging. She (stopped) them all. I told her at the end of the game, ‘Excellent job.'”
McIntire said sophomore defenseman Alyssa Prosser did her best to get the Red Hornets on the board in the second period.
“She has a lot of responsibilities on the ice, given she’s one of our better players,” McIntire said. “She knows rushing (the puck) is difficult at times, especially (on the penalty kill), and you have people hurt. I am proud of the girls for (competing) and proud of everybody for participating in some way.”
Allen ripped a shot past Quinell for a power-play goal nearly two minutes into the third period.
That was the Saint’s only power play of the game. The Red Hornets went scoreless on their two p0wer play opportunities.
Andrews scored her third goal on a breakaway later in the third. Maddie Weymouth’s blast from the blue line stretched the Saints’ lead to 8-0 with about six minutes left in the third period.
Georgie Davidson potted her second goal and Hanlon capped the scoring in the final five minutes of the game.
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