GORHAM — Just before the Scarborough High girls’ hockey team took the ice Wednesday at USM Ice Arena for its South quarterfinal against Biddeford/Thornton Academy/Wells/Sanford, Coach Taylor Fowler gave her Red Storm one final piece of advice.
“At the beginning of the game, before we came out, I told them possession’s key. We’ve just got to protect the puck. Make the tape-to-tape passes and pass with a purpose, and they did it,” Fowler said.
Oh, they did it.
Scarborough dominated from beginning to end, controlling play throughout to take a 4-1 win while outshooting Biddeford 51-5.
Third-seeded Scarborough (10-5-1) will face No. 2 Cheverus/Old Orchard Beach/Kennebunk/Windham (13-4-1) in the semifinals. No. 6 Biddeford ends the season at 5-10-2.
“Passing from behind the net worked really well to a shot in the slot. I think we kept them rolling, got as many shots as we could,” said Scarborough senior Meagan Donovan, who scored a pair of goals.
Scarborough set the tone barely a minute into the game. With Biddeford on the power play, the Red Storm controlled the puck, refusing to allow the Tigers an opportunity to set up their attack.
“They have a ton of confident skaters. They’re not big on numbers but they’re big on depth. I think the big ice sheet was to their advantage as well,” said Biddeford Coach Adam Flynn.
Meanwhile, the Red Storm peppered Biddeford goalie Kelsie Keely. The senior stopped 47 shots, keeping her team in the game.
“I feel like I’ve taken (Keely) for granted for four years, but she’s been our rock. She’s been the person we’ve relied on,” Flynn said.
“We knew we had to move her and catch her off guard, because if we take some point-blank shots, she’s going to stop them,” Fowler said of Keely.
The Red Storm grabbed the lead at 11:45 of the first period when Evelyn Boardman collected a pass from Morgan Scoville from behind the net and fired a hard shot past Keely.
At 10:15 of the second period, Donovan’s first goal made it 2-0 when her shot ticked off Keely’s glove and in.
Goals by Jamie Kemper and Donovan, both assisted by Boardman, pushed Scarborough’s lead to 4-0 in the third period. Scarborough goalie Ariella Swett, who earlier in the day along with teammate Calynn Gendreau was named a semifinalist for the Becky Schaffer Award, given to the top senior girls’ player in the state, made four saves before leaving the game with 1:54 left.
Biddeford’s Mackenzie Day scored a power-play goal with 1:37 remaining.
Now, Scarborough faces an opponent who defeated the Red Storm twice during the regular season.
“We lost twice to them, and they’re a great team. We’ve got to be ready, and we have a lot of work to do these next two days,” Fowler said.
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