LEWISTON — Top-ranked Falmouth jumped out to an early two-goal lead and goalie Ally Hurdman made it stand up Thursday for a 3-1 victory against second-seeded Scarborough in the South girls’ hockey final at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Falmouth (16-4), making its first trip to the state final in two years, will play St. Dominic (20-0) for the state title at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Colisee.
“To be perfectly honest, I think it came down to the seniors,” Falmouth Coach Rob Carrier said. “They knew it was going to be their last game if they lost. They were just too excited and had too much energy. They didn’t want their season to end.”
“Falmouth played well and played more composed than us,” Scarborough Coach Caitlin D’Amour said. “That was the big game changer.”
Scarborough was the defending regional champion. The Red Storm and Yachtsmen split two games in the regular season, Falmouth rolling to a 3-0 win at home on Jan. 25 before Scarborough answered with a 3-2 victory a week later.
“We had a lot of girls come in who are new to the program this year,” said Evie Clement of Falmouth, who opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game. “It was hard to get everyone integrated at first, but I think we are really coming together right now, and this is when it counts.”
Clement scored on a breakaway, tucking a backhander inside the left post after deking out goalie McKenzie Cormier.
The goal came on the first shot of the game.
With less than two minutes left in the first period, Devon Sarazin made it 2-0 by sweeping a rebound into the right side of the goal. Cormier tried to redirect Abi Lebel’s shot from the left circle, but the puck bounced off the right post onto Sarazin’s stick.
Between those two goals, the Red Storm (14-5-1) had three power plays.
“We made it a little tougher on ourselves than we wanted to with so many penalties, but we were able to keep them at bay,” Clement said. “It tired us out, but we definitely bounced back, which is what you need to do when you have that many penalties.”
“(The penalty kill) was something we didn’t expect to use that often, especially not that early in the game,” Carrier said. “We worked on it (in practice) on Monday and Tuesday, and it paid off.”
“Every year I’ve coached, (the) power play has been a bit of a struggle,” D’Amour said. “I think we get so excited and we don’t capitalize like we should. We got it in our heads and got a little ahead of ourselves like we should have connected.”
Hurdman, a four-year veteran for the Yachtsmen, made six of her eight saves during the first period while Scarborough was on the power play.
“She’s a rock back there,” Clement said. “We’re so happy to have her. She plays like a true champion out there. She’s incredible.”
Less than five minutes into the second period, Taylor Veilleux made it 2-1 by scoring on a breakaway, with the puck trickling in as Hurdman tried to squeeze her pads together.
Sarazin completed the scoring about two minutes into the third period by jamming in a rebound after Cormier stopped Stone Carmichael’s shot from just outside the crease.
The goal came moments after the Red Storm had finished killing off a penalty.
CORRECTION: This story was updated on Feb. 17 at 2:20 p.m. to clarify that Falmouth last played for a state championship two years ago.
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