AUBURN — On senior night for St. Dominic Academy/Gray-New Gloucester/Winthrop, it was the seniors who played a pivotal role in the Saints’ win.
Gigi Ouellette had two goals and Tayrn Cloutier scored the other as the Saints defeated Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland 3-2 at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
The seniors were excited for their final home game for a group of nine players.
“We have a large group, nine girls and I never have really had that, to be quite honest with you,” Saints coach Paul Gosselin said. “It was kind of a mix of (girls who have played) and some new girls. It was nice to see the numbers come out and nice to see them be added to the program. But it was nice for them to come out earlier, but it’s always tough to see the four-year (players) leave. I have spent a lot of time with them.”
One of those four-year players was Ouellette, who on the opening faceoff of the game took the puck and went in the offensive zone and ripped a shot past Red Hornets goalie McKenzi Horton eight seconds in.
The early goal calmed the players down.
“It (felt) pretty good,” Ouellette said. “I think everyone had a sigh of relief that we were up after the first shift. I think you are able to play a lot calmer for the rest of the game.”
Red Hornets coach Dana Berube thought his team bounced back from the quick goal that was allowed.
“I thought we competed with them great,” Berube said. “I just thought at times, we rushed some plays that I saw some openings in and the girls know that. At the end of (the day) we are looking for them to improve every day, and today we did improve.”
Ouellette took the first penalty of the game as she was called for a body check. The Saints capitalized while shorthanded as Cloutier was able to get control of the puck at the Saints’ offensive blue line and cut to the goal, then went top-shelf to give the Saints a 2-0 lead.
“I think our special team play was good, we did well with that,” Gosselin said. “It definitely benefitted us tonight.”
Ouellette struck again when she picked up the puck in the neutral zone as a Red Hornets defender lost an edge. Ouellette skated all alone and fired a wrist shot past Horton (16 saves) 93 seconds into the third period.
Emma Roy notched the assist.
“I saw (the girl) fall down and I noticed there was a girl next to me and I just took a quick shot,” Ouellette said.
The Red Hornets broke Madyson Boulet’s shutout bid with exactly seven minutes remaining in the game, as senior forward Caroline Tracey skated in and unleashed a shot at the left circle that hit inside the post. Freshman Gianna Castagna had the assist.
“We had some good puck movement down low and we have been working on some cycling,” Berube said.
Late in the game, the Red Hornets had a golden opportunity when the Saints were called for a double minor with 3:23 remaining in regulation. Caroline Audette fired the perfect shot as she went far post to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 1:34 remaining in the game.
Tracey had the assist.
Berube held off pulling Horton before the goal.
“There was a thought, I just thought there was way too much time left and I felt confident with our girls that we could get one,” Berube said. “The whole plan was if we got one, we wanted to give them a little bit of a rest (with a timeout). I thought we (gave up) a good amount of time after that, not getting the puck down in the (offensive) zone. We gave ourselves a chance at the very end and even had another shot on net off the faceoff (with three seconds left).”
Boulet made four of her 17 saves in the final seconds.
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