Don’t let Falmouth’s record fool you.
The Yachtsmen are still a dangerous boys’ hockey team and capable of playing into March.
Saturday evening at Troubh Ice Arena, the Yachtsmen got two goals from Tyler Baker in the first four minutes and two third-period goals from Owen Drummey as they snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over Portland/Deering.
“This gets us back on track a little bit,” said Falmouth Coach Deron Barton, whose team improved to 3-7. “We needed this game.”
Just 55 seconds into the game, Charlie Adams got the puck to Baker, and Baker backhanded a shot past Portland goalie Ryan Becker.
Then, at 3:38, Baker one-timed a pass from Drummey for a two-goal advantage, forcing Portland Coach Jeff Beaney to call a timeout.
“I think I had to use (the timeout) at that point,” Beaney said. “We weren’t ready to play. We haven’t had many good practices lately with a lot of guys having the flu, but that’s not really an excuse.”
The timeout worked, as the Bulldogs broke through at 9:10 when Nicholas Becker fired a shot past Sam Kidder (21 saves).
Falmouth had a chance to add to its lead in the second period when it twice went on the power play, but the Yachtsmen couldn’t convert. Portland drew even at 11:07, as Jake Luce set up Walter Lewandowski.
After each team failed on a power play early in the third, Portland earned another power play. But the Bulldogs lost the puck, and Baker passed to a streaking Drummey for the go-ahead goal with 7:31 remaining.
“Tyler got me the puck and I saw the top shelf and just shot it,” Drummey said. “I just walked in and hoped it went in.”
Drummey added some insurance with 5:07 left, as he again got free after a pass from Adams. Becker got a piece of the puck but not enough to stop it.
“Both of those breakaway goals came off amazing plays in the defensive zone from Tyler (Baker) and Charlie (Adams),” Barton said.
Portland’s Jake Luce converted the rebound of a shot from Donnie Tocci with 1:12 to play.
“It’s a great team win,” Drummey said. “Everybody worked hard. This is big for our confidence.”
Becker made 12 saves for Portland, which dropped to 4-5.
“The big thing for us is getting healthy and working on a couple things that we need to continue to work on,” Beaney said. “It’s a good group.”
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