“I like the way we finished in the third period,” Leavitt head coach Joe Hutchinson said. “I wasn’t too happy with the first period, I thought we were out flat. We didn’t have an determination of will in that first period.”
It was a tough start for the Hornets as Westbrook scored on the first shot of the game as Ryan Gilligan fired the puck as he was falling to the ice. The shot was just out of the reach of Ashton Dozios’ reach and it was an early 1-0 lead for the Blazers 17 seconds into the game.
“It was nice to get that first goal,” Westbrook head coach Michael Carmody said. “I think that helped us because we got the jitters out and were able to move forward. We were able to settle down after that. The progress we made from period one to period three is awesome. We are excited for the rest of the year.”
The Hornets responded just past the10-minute mark as Logan Vincent found Joe Baumann at the left circle to tie the contest up.
Leavitt would get back-to-back goals from Drake Goupill and Garrett Morin 94 seconds apart. Goupill put the puck on net and it sat in the crease. A Westbrook defender put it into the net as he was trying to put it out of danger 4:16 into the middle frame. Morin scored at the 5:50 mark as his shot fooled Westbrook goalkeeper Alex LeBlanc. Assists went to Adam Poulin and Blayne Arsenault.
“I don’t think they did anything. I think its just use to the systems that we are intergrading and getting use to play each other,” Carmody said.
Westbrook got within one before the intermission with a power-play marker. Darian Doucette at the 11:50 mark. They were 1-for-4 while Leavitt went 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
Arsenault potted the fourth goal with Poulin and Vincent picking up the helpers with 54 seconds remaining in the contest.
“In the third period we had some puck patients and we started to make some good passes instead of throwing it around,” Hutchinson added.
Ashton Dozios made 13 saves for Leavitt while Alex Leblanc stopped 17 shots.
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- Leavitt goalie Ashton Dozois slides into position to make a save as Westbrook’s Mike Kelley prepares to shoot during Saturday afternoon’s hockey game at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. Dozois made the save on the shot.
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- Leavitt’s Anthony Tedesco, right, makes a nifty move to get away from Westbrook’s Ryan Gilligan during Saturday afternoon’s hockey game at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
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- Laevitt goalie Ashton Dozois turns away a shot during Saturday afternoon’s hockey game at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
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- Leavitt’s Hunter Soucy, left and Westbrook’s Darren Doucette battle for the puck during Saturday afternoon’s hockey game at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
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