Thornton Academy managed to gain possession of the puck with seven seconds remaining in Tuesday’s overtime. Aware that their hopes of victory were quickly fading away, the Scarborough defenders clustered before the net in a mirage of white jerseys.
In desperation, the Trojans fired a final prayer, but to no avail as the puck was deflected away from the crowd; ending the contest in a 2-2 deadlock at the USM Ice Arena.
The final seconds were a microcosm of the entire game. TA (8-8-1) and Scarborough (12-4-2) were each on a relentless attack throughout the night, but often found themselves one inch too short or one second too slow to convert in the key moments that would put their team over the edge.
The tone for the entire game was set early in the first period. Goaltenders Josh Larrabee (20 saves) of the Red Storm and the Trojans’ Dan Laskey (20 saves) denied their opponents’ every attempt to take an early lead.
The two masked men were tested frequently by two-on-one breakaways and hard, mid-range slap shots.
“(Scarborough) likes to chip the puck around so it’s very tough for a big goaltender to keep track of it,” said Thornton coach Greg Cloutier. “Laskey did a nice job doing that. He played very well.”
Just 2:14 into the second period the Trojans ended the scoreless tie. Larrabee parried a strong blast from the right wing, but TA forward Jacob Scott recovered the rebound from the opposite side of the net and snuck it into the goal, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The deficit was enough to ignite the Red Storm who went on an all-out attack for the remainder of the period.
Laskey continued to dominate the crease despite the increased pressure. On several occasions Scarborough had a man advantage on a breakaway but missed the centering – and potential scoring – pass.
The Red Storm were finally able to prove Laskey’s mortality with only 53 seconds remaining when forward Ben Talbot barely drizzled the puck in between the goaltender’s legs to knot the game at one apiece heading into the third.
“We had a little lapse in the second period,” Cloutier said. “Overall, we played a very good game.”
“This was our last big game, so we all played hard,” said Trojans captain Jack Sevigny. “We gave it our all.”
Although each group played with an equal tenacity in the third, the puck had a tendency to deviate into the Red Storms’ possession. Scarborough was able to challenge Thornton’s defense at full throttle by gunning a fast repetition of early shots.
With 6:48 remaining the hosts were finally able to exploit a weakness in the Trojan armor, and upon receiving a pass from Nick Tolman, junior Jason Quirk gave his bunch a 2-1 lead.
Any momentum gained from the goal, however, rapidly fizzled away when Scarborough was penalized for roughing. The power play opportunity fueled a potent counter-attack by Thornton, opening the door for Craig Perham to streak a bullet into the back of the net from just inside the blue line.
The score sparked an all around increase in intensity, but it was too little too late and regulation – and the OT that followed – concluded with a 2-2 tie.
“We only come here once a year on this type of ice, so I’m perfectly happy with walking out of here with a tie,” said Cloutier. “This’ll give us the points we need to get up into seventh place.”
Both teams see action again Saturday, with TA ending their regular season at Westbrook and Scarborough hosting Falmouth.
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