The end of the calendar year has been good for the Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland girls hockey team. The Red Hornets have won three games in a row dating back to Dec. 16. They have beaten Greely/Gray-New Gloucester twice (1-0 and 3-1) to go along with a 9-1 win against York/Traip/Marshwood/Noble.

“We have been playing some of the weaker teams, but we have been improving,” Red Hornets coach Dana Berube said. “Kylee Spugnardi and Avery Cologna have been pretty instrumental in us winning those games.”

Spugnardi leads the team with 16 points. She has 13 goals and three assists, while Avery Cologna has 10 goals and two assists.

Berube said he’s seeing steady improvement from last year’s 2-16 season and the Red Hornets currently sit in a playoff position with a 5-3 record near the midpoint of the campaign.

“We are trying to get to where we can get to a place where we are pretty competitive, especially in our rivalry games,” Berube said. “Our schedule gets a bit tougher in a couple of weeks here. We have won three more than we did last year. We all wanted to have a better season and so far, so good.”

Berube noted that the Red Hornets are looking forward to the two matchups against Lewiston/Oak Hill on Jan. 5 and Jan. 31 and the rematch against St. Dom’s on Jan. 17.

He hopes the growth the defenders have shown in the three-game win streak can carry over to when the games get more challenging after the team’s game against Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Medomak on Wednesday.

“Mackenzie Grenier, she has improved tremendously,” Berube said. “She’s seeing the ice much better and making an outlet pass to the open player. It has improved the team dramatically. Ella LaBelle has made a big improvement on the back end. At this point of the year, the goal is to keep working hard every day and try to get better.”

SOPHOMORES LEADING THE WAY FOR ST. DOM’S BOYS

The St. Dominic Academy boys team is 6-1 heading into the New Year and coach Dan D’Auteuil said the reason for the hot start is the play of the sophomore class.

“That’s the core of our team; we have 10 of them,” D’Auteuil said.

In the Saints’ 5-1 victory against Edward Little on Wednesday night, four of the five goals came from the sophomore class.

“It’s important for us because not all the upperclassmen can do it,” Curtis Wheeler, a junior, said about the sophomores being a big part of the offense. “(They) have to step up sometimes. We have to work in the corners and get those pucks.”

Sixty percent of the Saints’ goals so far this regular season have come from the sophomores. Ben Dumais is the top-scoring sophomore for the Saints, with 12 goals and an assist.

“I think every game they get a little bit better,” D’Auteuil said. “It’s like a building block. We are getting better and better, the faster they learn their system and learn how to compete. It’s a different speed in high school than early on in your youth hockey career.”

LOCALS LEADING CLASS A IN POINTS

St. Dom’s, Lewiston and Lake Region/Fryeburg Academy/Oxford Hills have a plethora of players in the top 10 in points in Class A.

St. Dom’s senior Timothee Ouellette not only leads Class A in points, but also the state, with 18 on six goals and 12 assists in seven games. As mentioned above, Dumais has 12 goals — which leads the state — and an assist for 13 points, and is second in Class A.

The Saints have been razzing Dumais about the lack of assists this season. He nearly got his first in a game against Falmouth on Dec. 23, but had to wait until Wednesday’s win.

“He got one the other night, but (the officials) didn’t give it to him,” D’Auteuil said. “We were giving him a hard time that he finally got one. He was like, ‘(the official) didn’t give it to me.'”

Behind the St. Dom’s duo is a trio of Ice Cats players, with Kaden Neureuther notching nine goals and three assists for 12 points (third in Class A), while Gunner Truman (five goals, five assists) is in fourth.

There are many players tied for fifth. The Ice Cats’ Connor Richards (five goals and three assists) is joined by five Blue Devils players and one St. Dom’s player with eight points.

The five Lewiston players are Deano Scalia (six goals and two assists), Dylan Blue (five goals and three assists), Ethan Blue (five goals, three assists), Cam Plourde (four goals, four assists) and Colton Daniels (eight assists).

Wheeler of St. Dom’s also has five goals and three assists.

Bangor has a trio of players also with eight points: Chase Caron (five goals, three assists), Michael Moscone (three goals, five assists) and Marc-Andre Perron (three goals, five assists).

EDWARD LITTLE TRYING TO FIND SCORING

For the past two seasons, the Edward Little boys have had a high-powered offense led by All-Region Players of the Year and Travis Roy Award finalists Jack Keefe and Campbell Cassidy.

However, this regular season, Edward Little has struggled to find the back of the net in the early going, with only four goals in the six games the Red Eddies have played.

“We are trying everything,” Edward Little coach Norm Gagne said after the loss to St. Dom’s on Wednesday. “Tomorrow is a new day, but we put in a lot of time yesterday in the practice of getting pucks to the net like we did in the second period and crashing the net. We had some going off the end of (St. Dom’s goalie Jayden Lynn’s stick). We just can’t buy one. I think the effort is there, and I told the kids, that’s what we needed to do, is generating shots on net.”

Gagne said the lack of scoring is due to the lack of experience this team has at the varsity level.

The four goals are tied for the fourth-lowest total in the state this regular season, entering play Friday, with John Bapst/Hermon/Bangor Christian/Deer Isle-Stonington. The Crusaders have only played two regular-season games.

The only teams with fewer goals are Gardiner/Waterville/Winslow, with three, and Houlton/Hodgdon/Katahdin, with one goal.

TRIO OF MAINE NORDIQUES COMMIT TO D1 SCHOOLS

Before Christmas, three players who suited up for the Maine Nordiques this season made their college commitments.

Forward Jake Bernadet and defenseman Evan Orloff both committed to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

Bernadet, 20, has 13 goals and 18 assists in 32 games in his first season with the Nordiques.

“I’m proud and honored to announce my commitment to play Division I hockey at St. Lawrence University. I want to thank God, friends, family, coaches, and everyone else who has supported me along the way,” Bernadet wrote on his social media posts announcing his commitment.

Orloff, 20, has five goals and eight assists in 25 games.

“Evan has been a staple on the blue line and in the community. He provides us with successful penalty kill shifts and moves the puck quickly as a power-play quarterback. Evan has been a part of many memorable moments as a Maine Nordique and looks to make more in the second half of the season,” Nordiques coach Nick Skerlick said in an NAHL news release.

St. Lawrence is a member of the ECAC conference.

Nick Romeo, who started the season with the Nordiques and had 13 goals and eight assists in 15 games before being traded to the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the Tier I United States Hockey League, has committed to UMass-Lowell of Hockey East.

“I am proud and honored to announce my commitment to play Division 1 college hockey at (UMass-Lowell),” Romeo said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “I want to thank all my family, friends, teammates, coaches, and everyone else who has helped me achieve this goal.”

Romeo, a forward, has eight goals and an assist in 15 games with Dubuque.

TATRO HEADING TO THE NCDC ALL-STAR GAME

Twin City Thunder forward James Tatro will be playing in the USPHL’s National Collegiate Development Conference All-Star game, which will be at Boston University’s Agganis Arena on Jan. 15.

Tatro, who is in his second season with the Thunder, has six goals and seven assists in 22 games. His 13 points leads the team.

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