FALMOUTH — Third time wasn’t the charm for Biddeford against Falmouth, as the Yachtsmen once again had the Tigers’ number. The stakes were even higher in this game, however, as Falmouth advanced to the Western Maine girls hockey final with a 5-0 semifinal victory at Family Ice Center in Falmouth on Friday.
It was the second meeting in seven days between the teams, and third this season. No. 2 Falmouth won on third-seeded Biddeford’s home ice in the regular season finale last Saturday against a tired Tigers team.
On Friday night, however, the Tigers were fully charged. But so were the Yachtsmen. Evie Clement sent a shot across the Biddeford crease just a minute into the game, signaling that Falmouth was ready.
The Tigers did their best to neutralize Falmouth sophomore Martina St. Angelo, who scored three goals in the Yachtsmen’s 4-1 last week. That plan opened the door for fellow sophomore Sarah Hutcheon.
Hutcheon tallied the first of her three goals just over six minutes into the game, as she took a pass from Lucy Meyer behind the net and sniped a shot past Biddeford goalie Cassie Ellis.
Another Hutcheon goal came less than a minute later, as she poked in an unsteady puck near the right post past Ellis again.
“It was a good goal for them,” said Ellis. “We just couldn’t get it out.”
“We went in with a game plan that was a little bit different than what we normally do against Falmouth. We knew it was a high stakes game, and we were willing to take a risk in order to get the job,” said Biddeford head coach Ashley Potvin. “I guess in a sense it’s pick your poison. The issue that we had, I think, were just small lapses, and they capitalized on our mistakes.”
The Tigers held off a ruthless Falmouth attack the last five minutes of the opening period, and were able to salvage the two-goal deficit heading into the first intermission.
Biddeford got some help early in the second, as Clement was sent to the penalty box for hooking four minutes in. But the Tigers failed to take advantage, as they had trouble getting a shot on net early in the man-advantage, then had to fight off a feverish Falmouth short-handed attack at the end.
Biddeford got its best chance of the game up to that point midway through the second, when Katherine Dumoulin was able to flip a shot at Falmouth freshman goalie Ally Hurdman, but both her initial shot and Abbie Paquette’s put-back attempt were denied.
Both Mallory Mourmouras and Taylor Turgeon had solid shot attempts as the period went on, but again Hurdman proved impenetrable.
The Tigers built up some good momentum as the second period came to a close, but skated into the second intermission still down two goals.
“I think we all definitely felt like we were gaining momentum,” said Potvin. “And I actually think the longer intermission between the second and third hurt us, in terms of momentum.”
Hutcheon completed her hat trick early in the third, as she snapped a turnaround shot from between the circles into the top shelf of the goal. St. Angelo picked up her second assist on the goal.
That goal didn’t knock out the Tigers, though, appeared to answer 32 seconds later. But a re-direct by Turgeon on a bouncing puck in front of the net was disallowed, as Turgeon was called for kicking the puck in ”“ a point both she and Dumoulin, who was also in the scrum, denied.
“That was a huge, I guess I would call it a balloon-buster,” said Potvin. “Officials make calls, and there’s no taking it back in high school.”
The non-goal appeared to do what Hutcheon’s hat trick didn’t, and that was sink the Tigers’ spirits. Caroline Proctor scored less than three minutes after Turgeon’s disallowed goal, and after Ellis made some big saves, Clement completed the scoring with 3:30 left.
“It was a tough loss, but we all did what we planned on at practice yesterday. Our plan was to shut down (St. Angelo), and that’s what we did,” said Ellis. “So our plan kind of worked.”
“It’s always tough to end the season on a loss. Nobody wants their final game to end up being a loss,” said Potvin. “I just told the girls in the locker room the coaching staff, everybody, is super proud of how far they’ve come. To make it a game farther than last year is a step in the right direction.”
— 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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