Red Storm sink Yachtsmen, but get clawed by Tigers in finals - by Emory Rounds
Red Storm sink Yachtsmen, but get clawed by Tigers in finals
By Emory Rounds
Staff writer
It’s tough to be number one.
And yet that’s exactly what Scarborough was ranked heading into the beginning of the 2006-07 season. Not a single puck had yet been dropped, and not one goal scored, and yet the Red Storm had to deal with fending off the entire league ever since day one. How did Scarborough react? By winning four straight, and going 16-7 on the season.
Unfortunately, it all had to end sometime, and for the fifth ranked Red Storm, that time was on March 6 in the Western Class A finals game in at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Despite taking the lead three times against no. 2 Biddeford, the Red Storm couldn’t fend off the ferocious Tigers (20-3), who would not be denied their first Class A title. Biddeford exploded with three goals in the third period, putting the Storm away by a final tally of 6-3.
“It’s the biggest game we have ever played in,” said Biddeford senior forward Jordan Fields. Until this year, I had never won a playoff game playing for Biddeford High School. And then winning one, and winning two, and now to be at this level, every extra minute is a gift, because we’ve never played hockey in March before. I can’t describe the feeling.”
For the Red Storm, the feeling was probably elation, at least early on. Just over six and a half minutes into the first period, the Red Storm were coming off a power play when Tigers goalie Tony Dube was briefly exposed on his right side. Senior forward Brent Mayo took a feed from senior forward Mike Dakers at the center of the left-side circle, and banged a shot off the right goal post and into the net for the early lead.
“We told Tony not to give up on your teammates,” Fields said. “We don’t really need to remind him, because he never does. Every time they scored, we answered. It never got out of hand, and we were always within one.”
What followed was a back-and forth exchange. Biddeford tied things up five minutes into the second period on a shot by junior forward Shawn Grover (senior forward Jeremy Grebin assisting), but the Red Storm bounced right back with 8:00 remaining when Steve Cook finished on his own rebound to regain the 2-1 lead.
The Tigers again tied things when sophomore defenseman Brian Dumoulin sniped a shot from the blue line over the shoulder of Scarborough goalie Josh Larrabee with 6:42 left (Grover and junior forward Tyler Fleurent assisting). But the Red Storm responded again, this time down a man at 2:09 when Dakers intercepted the puck at center ice, skated down the right side boards and flipped it past Dube.
With just 31 seconds left, Biddeford again tied it, this time as Grebin beat Larrabee with a close-in shot coming off a feed from Dumoulin.
“As I told you [last week], we knew it was going to be two very good teams playing each other, and I think we both had about the same stuff tonight,” said Scarborough Head Coach Jay Mazur. “We were both very balanced against one another. Tonight it was Jamie’s [Gagnon, Biddeford head coach] night. Those boys played very hard, and they took advantage of every situation given to them.”
Things got out of hand for Scarborough fairly quickly in the third. Just 2:38 into the period on yet another Biddeford power play, Grover redirected a shot from Fleurent and past Larrabee to give the Tigers their first lead of the night and the spark they needed (Grebin asst).
Four minutes later, Reny made it 5-3 on a pass from freshman forward Trevor Fluerent, and with 4:34 left sophomore forward Cameron Madore took a pass from Grebin near the crease and dumped it into the net for the 6-3 dagger.
“We kenw it would be back and forth,” Gagnon said. “It just mattered that when we got down, we didn’t get too far down.”
The Red Storm were only in Tuesday night’s game because they had smashed no. 1 seeded Falmouth on March 3 to get there.
Despite falling down 1-0 just 52 seconds into the first period on a goal by Falmouth sophomore forward Michael Chase, Scarborough would rally to tie near the end of the period, then score four more unanswered goals to put the Yachtsmen away by a comfortable 5-1 margin.
“Our guys came out to play today,” Mazur said. “All three lines came and did their jobs exactly as they needed to.”
Falmouth looked to get the ball rolling early, striking at the Red Storm in the first minute when Chase hit a shot past Larrabee, who was at least partially screened on the play.
“With their first shot on net, I think Josh just had jitters,” Mazur said. “That’s just all it was. We all had it. Once it went in, he calmed down. You could see that he was more comfortable, and our lines responded to that.”
Rather than roll over, the Red Storm seemed to pick up the tempo of their game after going down 1-0. With 1:38 left in the period and the Yachtsmen on a power play, Scarborough cleared the puck, and senior forward Jason Quirk tailed Chase into Falmouth ice as he went to retrieve it.
As Chase made to move back up ice, Quirk picked his pocket, rolled to his left and dumped a shot past Falmouth junior goalie Derek Kump to tie things at 1 apiece. That score would hold until the second.
“That goal on the penalty kill was huge,” Mazur said. “That was the turnaround right there for us. We knew we had to go out in the second and continue.”
Although the Yachtsmen went down a man near the beginning of the middle period, Falmouth was able to come inches away from retaking the lead when Chase made a steal at center ice and raced back towards Larrabee, who made a brilliant kick save on the shot.
The Red Storm survived their own penalty disadvantage beginning at 9:13 remaining, then struck gold just under three minutes later, when Mayo whacked a shot off a stolen clearing pass and past Kump’s shoulder to take the lead.
Scarborough widened their advantage later in the period when with 1:10 remaining Cook took a shot from the left circle that bounced off Kump’s glove, onto onrushing senior forward Ben Talbot, and into the net. It was still 3-1 at the start of the third.
“It was tough to watch every puck bounce the wrong way tonight,” said Falmouth head coach Scott Rousseau. “If you look at that second goal, it was just a clearing pass that deflects off one of our own players and right to them, and on the third goal we make the save and the puck ricochets off one of our own players and into the goal.”
The Red Storm picked up additional goals Dakers and a second for Talbot (Cook asst.) in the third, while the Yachtsmen managed a trio of breakaways, but no points.
“You’re down 3-1 and you’re outshooting them - what are you going to do, hang on for a 3-1 loss?” Rousseau said. “Both of their goals came because we pressed offensively. One was essentially a long, loose puck because we pinched, and the fifth was a two on one, also because we pinched. Losing is losing, I wasn’t about sit on a 3-1 loss.”
By Emory Rounds
Staff writer
It’s tough to be number one.
And yet that’s exactly what Scarborough was ranked heading into the beginning of the 2006-07 season. Not a single puck had yet been dropped, and not one goal scored, and yet the Red Storm had to deal with fending off the entire league ever since day one. How did Scarborough react? By winning four straight, and going 16-7 on the season.
Unfortunately, it all had to end sometime, and for the fifth ranked Red Storm, that time was on March 6 in the Western Class A finals game in at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Despite taking the lead three times against no. 2 Biddeford, the Red Storm couldn’t fend off the ferocious Tigers (20-3), who would not be denied their first Class A title. Biddeford exploded with three goals in the third period, putting the Storm away by a final tally of 6-3.
“It’s the biggest game we have ever played in,” said Biddeford senior forward Jordan Fields. Until this year, I had never won a playoff game playing for Biddeford High School. And then winning one, and winning two, and now to be at this level, every extra minute is a gift, because we’ve never played hockey in March before. I can’t describe the feeling.”
For the Red Storm, the feeling was probably elation, at least early on. Just over six and a half minutes into the first period, the Red Storm were coming off a power play when Tigers goalie Tony Dube was briefly exposed on his right side. Senior forward Brent Mayo took a feed from senior forward Mike Dakers at the center of the left-side circle, and banged a shot off the right goal post and into the net for the early lead.
“We told Tony not to give up on your teammates,” Fields said. “We don’t really need to remind him, because he never does. Every time they scored, we answered. It never got out of hand, and we were always within one.”
What followed was a back-and forth exchange. Biddeford tied things up five minutes into the second period on a shot by junior forward Shawn Grover (senior forward Jeremy Grebin assisting), but the Red Storm bounced right back with 8:00 remaining when Steve Cook finished on his own rebound to regain the 2-1 lead.
The Tigers again tied things when sophomore defenseman Brian Dumoulin sniped a shot from the blue line over the shoulder of Scarborough goalie Josh Larrabee with 6:42 left (Grover and junior forward Tyler Fleurent assisting). But the Red Storm responded again, this time down a man at 2:09 when Dakers intercepted the puck at center ice, skated down the right side boards and flipped it past Dube.
With just 31 seconds left, Biddeford again tied it, this time as Grebin beat Larrabee with a close-in shot coming off a feed from Dumoulin.
“As I told you [last week], we knew it was going to be two very good teams playing each other, and I think we both had about the same stuff tonight,” said Scarborough Head Coach Jay Mazur. “We were both very balanced against one another. Tonight it was Jamie’s [Gagnon, Biddeford head coach] night. Those boys played very hard, and they took advantage of every situation given to them.”
Things got out of hand for Scarborough fairly quickly in the third. Just 2:38 into the period on yet another Biddeford power play, Grover redirected a shot from Fleurent and past Larrabee to give the Tigers their first lead of the night and the spark they needed (Grebin asst).
Four minutes later, Reny made it 5-3 on a pass from freshman forward Trevor Fluerent, and with 4:34 left sophomore forward Cameron Madore took a pass from Grebin near the crease and dumped it into the net for the 6-3 dagger.
“We kenw it would be back and forth,” Gagnon said. “It just mattered that when we got down, we didn’t get too far down.”
The Red Storm were only in Tuesday night’s game because they had smashed no. 1 seeded Falmouth on March 3 to get there.
Despite falling down 1-0 just 52 seconds into the first period on a goal by Falmouth sophomore forward Michael Chase, Scarborough would rally to tie near the end of the period, then score four more unanswered goals to put the Yachtsmen away by a comfortable 5-1 margin.
“Our guys came out to play today,” Mazur said. “All three lines came and did their jobs exactly as they needed to.”
Falmouth looked to get the ball rolling early, striking at the Red Storm in the first minute when Chase hit a shot past Larrabee, who was at least partially screened on the play.
“With their first shot on net, I think Josh just had jitters,” Mazur said. “That’s just all it was. We all had it. Once it went in, he calmed down. You could see that he was more comfortable, and our lines responded to that.”
Rather than roll over, the Red Storm seemed to pick up the tempo of their game after going down 1-0. With 1:38 left in the period and the Yachtsmen on a power play, Scarborough cleared the puck, and senior forward Jason Quirk tailed Chase into Falmouth ice as he went to retrieve it.
As Chase made to move back up ice, Quirk picked his pocket, rolled to his left and dumped a shot past Falmouth junior goalie Derek Kump to tie things at 1 apiece. That score would hold until the second.
“That goal on the penalty kill was huge,” Mazur said. “That was the turnaround right there for us. We knew we had to go out in the second and continue.”
Although the Yachtsmen went down a man near the beginning of the middle period, Falmouth was able to come inches away from retaking the lead when Chase made a steal at center ice and raced back towards Larrabee, who made a brilliant kick save on the shot.
The Red Storm survived their own penalty disadvantage beginning at 9:13 remaining, then struck gold just under three minutes later, when Mayo whacked a shot off a stolen clearing pass and past Kump’s shoulder to take the lead.
Scarborough widened their advantage later in the period when with 1:10 remaining Cook took a shot from the left circle that bounced off Kump’s glove, onto onrushing senior forward Ben Talbot, and into the net. It was still 3-1 at the start of the third.
“It was tough to watch every puck bounce the wrong way tonight,” said Falmouth head coach Scott Rousseau. “If you look at that second goal, it was just a clearing pass that deflects off one of our own players and right to them, and on the third goal we make the save and the puck ricochets off one of our own players and into the goal.”
The Red Storm picked up additional goals Dakers and a second for Talbot (Cook asst.) in the third, while the Yachtsmen managed a trio of breakaways, but no points.
“You’re down 3-1 and you’re outshooting them - what are you going to do, hang on for a 3-1 loss?” Rousseau said. “Both of their goals came because we pressed offensively. One was essentially a long, loose puck because we pinched, and the fifth was a two on one, also because we pinched. Losing is losing, I wasn’t about sit on a 3-1 loss.”
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