BIDDEFORD — Every time something positive happened for Thornton Academy on Thursday, St. Dominic’s had an answer. Momentum didn’t last long for the Trojans, who gave up six goals in the final 21 minutes of a 6-2 loss to the Saints in a boys hockey game at Biddeford Ice Arena.
The start of the game was slow in scoring but fast in tempo, as both teams engaged in an up-and-down-the-ice battle.
Shots on net were hard to come by through most of the period, but Thornton’s Alex Fallon started to change the tide with a shot from the top of the left circle that went wide right with five minutes to play.
A minute later, teammate Owen Elliot put a shot from the opposite circle on goal.
“We were looking real good, and we had them on their heels for most of the beginning there,” said Thornton senior forward Owen Lemoine, “and then we just couldn’t keep it going.”
The Saints (6-3-1) then got in on the action, as Brad Berube forced Thornton goalie Andre Huot to make a tough kick save with 3:20 left, and Huot then denied Mike Richard from the right side 40 seconds later.
Despite the late flurry of shots, both teams went into the first intermission still searching for their first goal.
“Shot efficiency is something we’re looking at. We got to make him make saves,” said Thornton head coach Jamie Gagnon. “The bottom line is, we had a lot of good opportunities, we found exactly what it is we wanted to create, we create the opportunity, then we hit a post or it goes wide.”
Thornton (4-4-1) didn’t have to search very long in the second period, as the Trojans went on the power play 44 seconds in and scored 11 seconds later. Taylor Browne took a shot from between the circles that deflected off a skate, but it went right to Lemoine, who was able to poke it in from the left side.
That lead stood for nearly 10 minutes, but it became a deficit in the span of 10 seconds. Chase Hainey tied the game when a bouncing puck in front of the net found his stick, and he easily snuck it past Huot with 5:40 to play in the second. Berube scored 10 seconds later off the face-off on a pass from Caleb Labrie.
“They kind of just hit us quick with that goal, and we just took a step back, and they capitalized again and the momentum changed,” said Lemoine.
The Trojans had plenty of chances to even the game back up ”“ including a short-handed chance by Lemoine ”“ before the period elapsed, but couldn’t seal the deal.
The tying goal finally came in the first minute of the third, as Lemoine deflected a shot by Fallon into the net 41 seconds in, as the Trojans kept possession in the attacking zone after a power play.
“It definitely felt like it switched the game a lot, flipped the momentum back on our side,” said Lemoine. “It felt real good for a few moments there until they took the lead again.”
Any momentum gained by that goal went out the window 58 seconds later, as Tyler Sirois scored for the Saints in transition. Sirois received a friendly bounce, as his goal was on an intended pass that redirected off a diving Browne and through the legs of Huot.
Labrie added to the lead 48 seconds later on a breakaway, as he held off a Thornton defender and beat Huot to the right.
“They can put them up in bunches,” said Gagnon. “And if you’re not willing to skate with them, and you have that letdown after a goal, they’ll put another one up on you, and we saw that tonight.”
Labrie sealed the victory with two power play goals to round out a hat trick.
“We were exerting a lot of energy on the penalty kill, and I think we ultimately ran out of gas,” said Gagnon.
It was another loss full of missed opportunities for the Trojans, who are still searching for a consistent effort for 45 minutes.
“Periods, here and there, we’ve blown teams away sometimes and been the team we can be, and it’s real good when we are like that. But sometimes we aren’t the team we should be, and we need to work on that a little bit,” said Lemoine. “I think we are better than what our record says we are. We had some problems at the beginning of the season, and definitely going to be working on it and proving ourselves over the rest of the season.”
Thornton will have another crack at its fifth victory of the season when it hosts Marshwood/Traip on Saturday at 3:20 p.m.
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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