WINDHAM — Despite Liam McCusker’s four-goal afternoon vs. visiting Massasbesic on Saturday, April 22, the Eagles – a young outfit this season – couldn’t keep pace with the Mustangs in the long-run, ultimately succumbing 15-11. 

The bout was both teams’ season-opener; Windham thus began their spring on a down note at 0-1, while Massabesic galloped to 1-0.

“We had very little intel on them,” Eagles head coach Peter Small said of the Mustangs. “It’s early in the year. We had information from last year; they graduated some people. And I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach (Steve) Gallo and his staff. This is a team that, they’re hungry.”

“So we were trying to adapt,” Small said. “And you know, they didn’t show anything that was over the top; they just played well. They dug for every ground ball.”

Massabesic opened the action looking strong: The Mustangs seized possession early and settled quickly into an attacking perimeter. The Windham defense pushed back, but the team soon went man-down on a George Butts slash. The misstep cost them, as Mustang Garrett Stubbs punched the first point of the bout past Eagles keeper Keegan Pock nine seconds before the penalty could expire.

Penalties would hobble the Eagles all afternoon, as Small observed. “Right off the bat, four of their first six goals were scored when we were man-down,” Small said. “Those penalties were some cross-checks, some pushes, and they dug a hole, and Massabesic was very good at capitalizing on that.”

“But again,” Small said, “it’s not just penalties; Massabesic executed.”

But Windham wasn’t about to roll over and die. The team responded in less than 90 seconds. Fifteen yards out, Seth Wall lasered a shot up the middle, through the Massabesic defense and past netminder Evan Foglio. 1-1.

Thirty seconds later, the Eagles jumped out front for the first – and unfortunately the last – time. Tyler Woolston, slinking behind the Mustangs’ cage, dished a quick ball to Grant Jacobson, loitering on Foglio’s doorstep. Jacobson snapped the redirect over Foglio’s shoulder for 2-1.

A tense couple minutes passed before Massabesic notched a pair in rapid succession to retake the lead. Ethan Ouellette added the first of the two and Max Irons the second, during which play Windham also infracted again. Man-down once more, the Eagles’ defense relinquished the 4-2 point to Mustang Justin Forrester.

Twenty-six seconds later, with 3:54 remaining in the first, Windham went man-down yet again; this time, however, Pock turned a huge save to thwart the Massabesic attack. Nevertheless, the Mustangs went up 5-2 not long after play returned to even strength, Irons adding a low, off-angle bouncer from Pock’s right side.

The Eagles clearly needed to regroup, and Small called timeout. When Windham took to the field again, they struck fast and hard, McCusker earning his first of the day on a shot from the top of the box. Inside the last minute, though, the Eagles went man-down again. Ouellette capitalized on the opportunity, putting Massabesic ahead 6-3. 

Small remarked on the relative youth of his team this spring, and the challenge of developing a chemistry among a group of players who haven’t already been competing side-by-side for several years.

“The kids aren’t use to, necessarily, each other,” Small said. “I don’t think they’ve read each other. So sometimes, someone’s leading someone while the other guy’s cutting the other way. We’ve got one senior on the team, we’ve got four juniors, the rest are freshman and sophomores.”

“We also took some things for granted,” Small said. “We made some passes through their defense that, in practice, we’re thinking, ‘These happen,’ and Massabesic got their sticks up and knocked ‘em down. That’s going to kill you every time.”

Each team picked up three in the second quarter, Windham’s by McCusker, Griffin MacVane and Tommy Lekousi, and Massabesic’s by Ouellette, Stubbs and Zion Mercado. The Eagles looked more aggressive on the attack, peppering Foglio more successfully; Foglio, however, turned fantastic save after fantastic save to keep his boys out front.

Windham clearly caught the Mustangs by surprise to begin the downhill half. Just 25 seconds in. Jacobson beat Foglio, if barely: Foglio knocked down Jacobson’s shot, but the ball trickled beneath Foglio’s stick and across the goal line. Thirty seconds after that, Woolston found McCusker from behind the net, and McCusker found the back. A lone goal now separated the teams, 9-8. 

Small commented on his boys’ play at the start of the second half. “The ground balls, we came out better in the second half,” he said. “In the first half, our kids were slow, standing over the ground balls. But they realized, ‘This is going to be a ground ball game.’”

All too soon, however, the Mustangs reopened a multi-point lead. In the span of six minutes, Stubbs struck, then Irons, then Ouellette, then Irons again. The run put Massabesic out front 13-8. 

That’s when Windham goalie Keegan Pock earned himself a trip to the sidelines for a pair of consecutive fouls, the first on an aggressive check and the second for unsportsmanlike conduct. The team’s backup goalie, Ben Elliot, stepped in for an early-season trial by fire.

Elliot remained in net for the duration of the game – and in fact, he gave Windham a fighting chance. He let up a goal early, on a Cam Roy sniper-shot from the top of the zone, and he let up another one late, another Cam Roy special, but in the long intervening stretch, he stood his ground, turning several huge saves.

“Keegan had an unsportsmanlike conduct, so at that point, it was in our best interest to keep our secondary goalie, who’s equally talented,” Small said. “Ben’s a freshman, but he’s worked hard … to refine his skills. He’s good.”

Alas, Windham’s trio of goals in the final quarter – by MacVane, Jacobson and McCusker – wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit they’d incurred, and they fell 15-11 in the end.

Beyond McCusker’s quartet of strikes, Jacobson finished with three for Windham, as well as three assists. Griffin MacVane added two goals, and Wall and Tommy Lekousi a goal and an assist apiece. Woolston tallied six assists.

Small took a moment to praise a couple of his boy by name. “Chris Lekousi, our main faceoff guy, he’s our only senior, but he was one of the best in the State last year on faceoffs,” Small said. “He dominated on faceoffs. He was winning the rake every single time. And his brother, who’s a sophomore, Tommy, both sides, he was playing well offensively, defensively. Those two guys, to me, seemed to stand out.”

Windham traveled to Portland on Tuesday the 25th. They host Edward Little on the 28th. 

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME

Tyler Woolston fueled the Eagles’ offensive fire all afternoon on Saturday, tallying six assists.

Keeper Keegan Pock jumps out of net for Windham vs. Massabesic on Saturday.

Windhamite George Butts clashes with a Massabesic opponent on Saturday.

Liam McCusker, seen here on defense, tallied four goals for the Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

Tommy Lekousi logged a goal and an assist on nine shots vs. Massabesic, Saturday.

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