AUBURN — The Edward Little boys hockey team cruised to a late-season victory Saturday.
The Red Eddies defeated Biddeford/Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach 4-0 at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
Four different players scored a goal in the win and Gage Ducharme made 12 saves for the shutout.
“We did a lot of things we wanted to do in the first two periods, and the third period, we slowed things up because we ended up getting penalties,” Edward Little coach Norm Gagne said.
Gagne said the Red Eddies (11-3) wanted to play well on the special teams and keep the Tigers (5-8-1) under 20 shots, which they did, only allowing 12.
Biddeford/Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach coach Ethan Bassile said Edward Little is a tough team to face.
“It’s a good team on the other side,” Bassile said. “I think, at the same time, we weren’t ready as we should be and when you come into a building like this, you have to be ready from the start.”
A Campbell Cassidy shot from the blue line went through the traffic in front of the net and beat Tigers goalie Aden Dube (22 saves) 4:29 into the first period, giving the Red Eddies a 1-0 lead.
“He had a lot of opportunities tonight,” Gagne said of Cassidy. “He couldn’t bury enough of them.”
Freshman Isaac Jalbert tapped home a cross-ice pass from defenseman Gavin Levesque for a 2-0 Edward Little lead late in the opening frame.
It was a milestone goal for Jalbert.
“I thought Gavin’s pass to Jalbert was a great play and it’s good to see him get his first varsity goal,” Gagne said.
The Red Eddies scored quickly in the second period. Tate Morse found Peyton Dyer, stretching out the lead, and 19 seconds later, Drew Smith blasted a shot for a 4-0 advantage.
The goals came within the first two minutes of the second period.
“Our second-period start was far from what we were looking for,” Bassile said. “We were looking for a little bit of a response going down 2-0 in the first period. To give up two quick goals like that is disappointing.”
The Tigers had an extended power play in the third period when Morse drilled a player in the board and received a five-minute major. Callum Labonte of Biddeford/Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach went after Morse and got a two-minute minor.
The teams skated 4-on-4 for two minutes and the Tigers couldn’t score in the remaining three minutes of Morse’s major.
“We had our fair share of struggles early on in the season with the power play,” Bassile said. “We found a groove recently, we scored a couple of goals, and we scored one against Scarborough on Wednesday in that (5-3) win. A good penalty kill on (Edward Little). Guys that can skate, guys that are aggressive and I don’t think we executed our plan.”
Both teams were 0 for 5 on the man-advantage.
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