So St. Dominic Academy started working on shooting it when the Lewiston/Monmouth/Oak Hill goalie couldn’t see the puck.
The Saints finally found openings midway through the first period, leading to one goal, then another, and a third came on a shorthanded breakaway. St. Dom’s put three more goals in during the second period, and one more in the third en route to a 7-0 victory over the Blue Devils in a girls’ hockey game at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Thursday.
The Blue Devils (4-6-1) were given an even harder task than just facing the undefeated Saints (12-0) in the opening minute, when they went on a penalty kill. Gosselin, the junior goalie, stopped all five man-down shots she faced, then the next 11 even-strength chances before the Saints caught her in a vulnerable moment after a rebound.
“It was a difficult task for us, but we have to take the small victories,” Blue Devils coach Ron Dumont said. “We can hang for a little bit, but we just don’t have the horses to stay with it. It’s just a matter of just fighting the clock, and trying to get as many minutes as we can before we let one in.”
Kristina Cornelio buried the open shot after Gosselin stopped the initial try by Bugsy Hammerton, who had hit the post less than a minute before. The same combination struck again with exactly two minutes left in the first. Gosselin tracked the puck off the left post in a scrum, but couldn’t recover in time for Cornelio’s shot from the right circle. Hammerton fed her puck from behind the net out of the scrum.
“She’s a very good goaltender, and we figured the team would help her out with plugging up the middle, so we had to move the puck around,” St. Dom’s coach Paul Gosselin said.
Hammerton got a goal of her own with time winding down in the first. An ill-advised Blue Devils pass in the neutral zone on the power play was intercepted by the speedy sophomore winger, who skated up the ice alone before beating Gosselin from the left side.
“I was able to deke her,” Hammerton said. “I’ve been working on that at practice.”
The Blue Devils killed off another penalty they received in the opening minute of the second. Gosselin was assessed the penalty for slashing, but stayed in net to stop one shot and watch another clang off the post.
She couldn’t stop Hammerton four minutes in, who scored off an assist from Cornelio. Their linemate, Avery Lutrzykowski, got in on the action three minutes later, scoring on a high shot from the high slot.
“Whenever we come back in the second we know have to keep going, and having that mindset of just getting goals,” Hammerton said. “We get that first goal … and the floodgates open.”
The Saints’ second line joined the second-period scoring with just under three minutes to go in the frame. Callie Samson scored from Madison Samson and Dasha Fons, with the goal coming against Blue Devils backup goalie Camree St. Hilaire.
Hammerton completed a hat trick — and the scoring for the game — just 27 seconds into the third period against St. Hilaire.
“Bugsy had a good game,” Coach Gosselin said. “She was flying out there. When her legs are moving, good things happen.”
St. Hilaire then proceeded to turn away the next 14 shots she faced to keep it a 7-0 finish. The freshman stopped 27 shots, while Gosselin made 32 saves.
“Meagan did a good job, so did Camree,” Dumont said.
Payton Winslow made six saves to earn a shutout for the Saints.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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