Poland/Gray-New Gloucester 14
Sanford 2
Saturday was a tough day to be a fan of the Sanford Redskin hockey team.
The Poland/Gray-New Gloucester hockey team dominated Sanford in all aspects of the game to come away with a 14-2 win at the Biddeford Ice Arena. Ben Piper, Gardner Lajoie, Kolby Arnold, Seth Champagne and Zach Arnold all had two goals apiece for the Patriotic Knights.
“Its very important (for all lines to contribute),” said Poland/G-NG coach Aaron Rand. “We’ve been a first-line dominant team all year and we’ve been stressing the importance of all lines, and everybody got a chance tonight.”
The tone for the game was set early in the first period when Piper scored the first goal of the game just 1:21 into the game. Just over two minutes later, Lajoie tallied his first goal of the game when he put back a rebound.
Midway through the period, Jake Trickey was sent to the sin bin for interference and the Redskins had their second power play chance. Sanford’s Tim Jenkel gained control of the puck deep in his own end and skated away. He moved into the Patriotic Knights’ end of the ice and fired a shot on goal that trickled across the goal line to make it a 2-1 game.
Late in the period, Trickey ripped a slap shot from the blue line that eluded Sanford goalie Ron Clark. The teams entered the first intermission with Poland/GNG on top 3-1.
When the action resumed, things looked the same as they had in the first period. Cory Cormier scored the fourth goal of the game for the Patriotic Knights just over four minutes into the period. It wasn’t long after Cormier’s goal that Kolby Arnold notched his first goal of the game.
Midway through the second, Lajoie was whistled for roughing to give Sanford another man advantage. This time Poland/G-NG scored their first short-handed goal of the game. Clark misplayed the puck behind the net and it came to rest on the stick of Kolby Arnold. Arnold scored his second goal with Clark still out of the net to give his team a 6-1 lead.
A few minutes later, Sanford scored their second goal. During a power play chance, Collin Stuart found the back of the net and that made it a 6-2 game. But the Patriotic Knights scored twice in the final minute of the period to squash any momentum that Sanford might have had. Champagne scored his first goal of the game with 58 seconds to go in the period and that was followed by Sam Mason scoring with 38.7 seconds left. Entering the second intermission, it was 8-2 in favor of Poland/G-NG.
“We worked hard,” Rand said. “We played four lines and we’ve been practicing hard. Things worked out for us tonight.”
The Patriotic Knights tallied six more goals in the third period, the first coming on their second short-handed goal. Zach Arnold stuffed a rebound into the net during a Sanford power play for his first goal of the game. Just over a minute later, Lajoie scored his second goal and Poland/GNG was up 10-2.
Shortly after the Lajoie goal, Patrick Collins was sent to the penalty box and Sanford had another power play opportunity. Just as they had done twice before, the Patriotic Knights took advantage. This time they scored two short-handed goals. Piper scored the first one on a one-timer and Zach Arnold picked up the second one for a 12-2 lead.
“We tend to be a little aggressive on the penalty kill trying to force the issue to force them to one side or the other,” Rand said. “And we took advantage of them giving us the puck.”
The Patriotic Knights scored twice more in the third period. Champagne scored his second goal of the game and Collins scored the final goal of the game to make it 14-2. Poland/G-NG goalies turned away 11 Sanford shots to secure the win.
“Both goalies have been great for us all year,” Rand said. “We try to play tough in front of them and force it outside. And they made the stops they should.”
Sanford falls to 1-10 with the loss. They will face Bonny Eagle on Saturday. The Patriotic Knights improved to 10-4 with the win. They were scheduled to face Noble on Wednesday.
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