FALMOUTH — Falmouth’s third-seeded girls’ hockey team made quick work of No. 6 Portland/Deering Wednesday evening, scoring four times in the first period en route to a 7-1 victory in a South quarterfinal at Family Ice Center.
Senior defenseman Kayla Sarazin finished with four goals as the Yachtsmen improved to 12-5-2 and advanced to a semifinal against No. 2 Scarborough (13-4-1) at 5 p.m. Friday.
Falmouth quickly seized control, as Sarazin, who was robbed by Portland/Deering goalie Christiana Gannon 25 seconds into the game, got another chance and finished for an unassisted goal at 3:27.
The second goal came out of a scrum in front as Reade Carmichael banged home a rebound of Jojo Kaserman’s shot at 6:33.
Portland/Deering then went on the power play, but the Yachtsmen produced a short-handed goal. Eliza Chace got the puck just inside the red line and flicked it on goal, and it got past Gannon for an unassisted goal to make it 3-0.
Kaserman’s goal at 12:36 on the rebound of a Carmichael shot stretched the lead to 4-0.
“We wanted to make sure we had a really good first period,” said Falmouth Coach Rob Carrier. “The girls came out with a lot of energy, and that’s what we were searching for.”
Portland/Deering had its chances in the first 15 minutes, with more than four minutes of power-play time and 10 shots on goalie Julia Bonnvie (23 saves).
In the second period, Bonnvie came up huge on several occasions, making nine more saves to help preserve the lead.
“We don’t walk out of here with a six-goal win without Julia playing like she did,” Carrier said. “We had some lulls, but she saved us.”
Sarazin scored her second goal, beating Gannon (29 saves) on the backhand on a rush at 11:57 of the second period.
Portland/Deering finally broke through 19 seconds later when Emily Demers scored on a rebound.
Sarazin completed her hat trick at 5:12 of the third, with Carmichael getting an assist. Sarazin scored for the fourth time at 6:40.
“I play midfield in lacrosse, so I think about offense and defense,” Sarazin said. “If I have a chance to shoot, I’m definitely looking to do it.”
Portland/Deering Coach Tom Clifford was pleased with his team’s effort.
“I thought for much of the first two periods, we took it to them, but Julia made big saves and that was the difference,” Clifford said.
“To the kids’ credit, from Day 1 this year, their goal was to make the playoffs. It will be extremely hard to say goodbye to the four seniors. Every year, we set the goal to get back here.”
Scarborough beat Falmouth two weeks ago, 2-1, but the Yachtsmen like their chances in the rematch.
“I think it will be an exciting game,” Sarazin said. “We just have to stay focused.”
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