Biddeford/Thornton Academy/Wells’ Ashley Atwater collects the puck on Tuesday. ALEX SPONSELLER/ Journal Tribune
After a scoreless first period, the Red Storm would score in both the second and third to secure the win over the Tigers.
The Red Storm immediately took control in the first period and dictated the pace throughout much of the 15 minutes. The Tigers spent nearly the entire 15 minutes in their own zone, and didn’t record a shot on goal until the early in the second.
“It was kind of the gameplan — we’ve focused our last few practices on our defensive zone coverage. When we do that we expect to play a lot of defense, we expect to play defense well,” said Biddeford/TA/Wells coach Adam Flynn.
Scarborough was disappointed in its inability to find the back of the net in the first period.
“We’ve had a scoring issue all season. We spend a lot of the time in the offensive zone and don’t get many pucks in the net so it’s something we work on every day in practice. It’s like a mental block for them. We’re going to fix that (at practice) on Thursday,” said Scarborough coach Caitlin Jordan.
The Red Storm wasted little time getting on the board in the second, killing off two consecutive power plays and getting a goal from Lucy Bogdanovich less than two minutes into the period.
The two clubs grinded for the rest of the second, and Carrie Timpson would fight through a scrum to net Scarborough’s second goal early in the third to set the score at 2-0.
Jordan was impressed by Biddeford/TA/Wells goalie Alaina Keely, who was filling in for normal starter Trinity Atwater.
“They had a different goalie playing tonight, she’s strong. She kept them in that game tremendously, she made a lot of great saves,” said Jordan.
Despite the loss, Flynn was pleased with his team’s effort throughout the 45 minuets, and was happy to see the Tigers get chances down the stretch.
“I think (Scarborough) started to get tired, we started to get our chances and we were able to pressure them a little bit more. We’re a third period team … the first period went exactly as we thought it would but we weren’t able to pull through unfortunately,” said Flynn.
The two teams squared off in the second game of the regular season, with Scarborough winning 7-0. Flynn felt that the Tigers’ experience is what helped them come out stronger than the last contest.
“That was early on in the year, we didn’t really have any established systems. I just think we improved all year, they improved their skills. We’ve come a long way, we’ve faced adversity all year. Today was no different, we battled harder and learned how to battle all year,” said Flynn.
Flynn was also excited to see many of his young players get their first taste of playoff action.
“This can only help, to get that experience. There’s a lot of seniors in there that haven’t really had that experience so to be a freshman, be sophomore and to be able to have that experience will be huge going forward,” said Flynn.
The Tigers finish the season with an overall record of 10-8-1. Flynn enjoyed his first year coaching the black and orange, and looks forward improving next season.
“First year was great —came into it not knowing what to expect, there were challenges along the way on the ice and off the ice. I learned so much, I already know things I would change next year, things I need to take care of sooner. Just to get this experience is awesome,” said Flynn.
The Red Storm will move on to face top-seeded Cheverus/Kennebunk on Saturday, and Jordan hopes her team can put its best foot forward against the high-flying Stags.
“(Cheverus/Kennebunk is) very strong — we’re going to work on our goal scoring and driving to the net,” said Jordan. “If we can break through and get some pucks in the net I think it will make a big difference just in the morale moving forward.”
— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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