Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach/Bonny Eagle – a.k.a. the MOB – picked up a straightforward win over visiting Gray-New Gloucester/Oak Hill/Poland (the 26ers) at USM Ice Arena on Saturday night, Feb. 13. MOB standout and Captain Tanner McClure tallied a hat trick – not to mention a pair of assists – in the 9-0 rout.
Asked what his boys can take away from such a lopsided win, MOB head coach Loren Blair spoke of the simple things. “Just don’t pick up any bad mistakes,” he said. “Try to execute our game plan, and hopefully nobody gets hurt or does anything stupid.”
The MOB put up four goals in the opening period, all while holding the 26ers silent. McClure assisted Spencer Shields on the initial point, a powerplay notch just four minutes into the game. The team’s next three scores came in a rush as the first break approached: AJ Cates assisted Tom Komulainen with four minutes to play, Cam Roy assisted McClure roughly a minute later, and Komulainen assisted Dylan Tozier two minutes after that.
“I was with two new kids for linemates,” said McClure, “[but] I’d played with them last year, so we had chemistry, and it felt good. We were hungry for a win; we kind of needed it if we want to place in playoffs. They were probably hungry to get revenge on us, but we came out strong.”
The MOB bested the 26ers back on Dec. 16 as well.
BE/OOB/M added just one goal in the second – shorthanded, on a McClure feed to Roy midway through the stretch – but exploded again in the third. Just over a minute into the final period, Justin Crowley and Alasdair Swett combined to get the puck to Travis Marsh for a right-side redirect past 26ers goalie Kenny Humphrey. 6-0.
Blair had high praise for Humphrey, who admitted nine goals to the net, but also turned away 40 others: “Their goalie is unbelievable,” Blair said. “He’s a freshman. 49 shots. Great.”
Another minute on, Robbie Axelsen shoveled forward to McClure, who faked a shot high in the 26ers’ zone, then cut immediately left for a quick wrister across to far side, beating Humphrey for 7-0.
The MOB’s last two hashes were both unassisted: Roy knocked in the 8-0 goal with 6:38 to play, and four minutes later, McClure, on a breakaway, made it 9-0.
“Our two seniors played great,” McClure said proudly. “Tommy got a goal and Crowley played hard and got a nice assist. Just a good game overall.”
A mere two seniors means the MOB is pretty young overall. The team has made great strides in recent seasons, and looks to make more. McClure is happy with where the squad is at. “We lost two big guys last year, so we’re a pretty small team. But we had some freshmen come up last year, and we’ve got some chemistry there. Came back this year, kept working on it, and we’re doing pretty good.”
The No. 9 MOB, hovering just outside the playoffs bracketing, hosted Marshwood/Traip/Sanford on Wednesday night, the 17th, after the Lakes Region Weekly’s print deadline. A win in that game and a loss by No. 8 Portland/Deering vs. Thornton on Thursday night might be enough to squeak the boys in green into the postseason – but only the Oracle of the Heal Points knows for sure.
On Saturday, McClure acknowledged his squad’s tenuous position, but also seemed hopeful. “We need some luck to get in,” he said. “Last year we were pretty close to playoffs to, so it would be awful if we didn’t make it again. But I’m proud of the team; we did pretty well – we had a little bit easier schedule than last year, but we came through. As a small team, we played pretty fast, determined. Hopefully we can get a little luck our way and make it into playoffs.”
The 26ers’ Jacob Baggs (G-NG) dashes forward on the attack vs. the MOB. 
MOBster Tanner McClure had a hat trick against the visiting 26ers on Saturday.
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