Last week was a tough week for the Scarborough Red Storm hockey team.
After a 5-4 overtime loss to Greely on Monday, and a 4-3 loss to Cheverus on Thursday, the Red Storm came into Friday’s contest against Waterville looking to get back into the win column and move a game above .500 with three games to go in the season.
With Ian Rowe leading the Waterville offense, the Red Storm lost their third straight game by the final score of 3-1. Rowe, a junior forward, had a goal in the second period and an assist in the third for the Panthers.
Red Storm goalie Ben Waller made 16 saves during the game, while his counterpart for Waterville, Nolan MacDonnell, made 18.
“We have a very young team that still needs to learn how to play the game. There are nights that we’ve played very well, and there’s nights where we haven’t. That just a part of the game, and we’ll have to address that situation for the future,” said Scarborough coach Jay Mazur.
Waterville took an early 1-0 lead 8:56 in the first period when Cameron Bishop made a center ice steal and scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal on the resulting breakaway. Scarborough was down a man in the final two minutes of the first due to a penalty, but Waller made two huge saves on shots by Waterville’s Zachary Jochem and Timothy Locke, the latter’s shot being stopped by Waller’s skate.
The following two periods featured a number of penalties and scoring opportunities for both teams, the result of the physical style of play both teams possess.
The Red Storm took a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period after an interference call on Rowe, and later a high-sticking call on Brock LeClair. Waterville was able to kill the penalties, but just before the Panthers made it back to even strength, Rowe increased Waterville’s lead to 2-0 on an assist from Shawn Lee at the 8:35 mark, their second shorthanded goal of the game.
“On the power play, you can’t give up the breakaways. (Waterville) got two shorthanded goals, and that hurts the team. That’s tough to take,” said Mazur.
Later in the second, Scarborough again was on a 5-on-3 advantage after Locke was called for roughing, and LeClair was called for a four minute double-minor for roughing. The Panthers were able to get back to even strength, but after Jochem was called for a misconduct penalty, the Red Storm were able to capitalize with 1:55 left in the period, when a Nate Gadbois shot was stopped by MacDonnell, only for Hunter Wood to shoot the rebound into the net and pull Scarborough to within one.
“(Woods) just buried the puck. The puck was on net, he made it, and they did what they are supposed to do,” said Mazur. “I talked with (Waterville coach Dennis Martin) and said, ‘you know, we don’t mind physical.’ They’re good hits, and we look at it in different ways as someone else may look at it. As long as it is consistent one way or the other, we’ve got to deal with it. We had our opportunities with 5-on-3’s, and Waterville had their opportunities with 5-on-3’s as well, so it’s just a matter of making sure we take advantage of the situation when they come.”
The third period started with the Red Storm down 2-1, but they soon faced a two-goal deficit when Waterville used a 2-on-1 breakaway to increase their lead to 3-1. Eric Aldrich, a sophomore forward, scored the third and final goal for the Panthers on an assist from Rowe.
The penalties continued until the final buzzer, but the scoring did not, and as a result, the Red Storm dropped to 8-9 on the season with three games left. Their next will come Feb. 14 against Portland. The Red Storm will be looking to even up the season series with the Bulldogs, snap their current three-game losing streak, and gain momentum going into the postseason.
“Hopefully we’ll be in the playoffs, and we’ll be ready to contend at that time, but at this moment, it’s just a matter of needing to get together as a team,” said Mazur. “We have to gather ourselves as a unit, help each other out, and when we get on the ice, we have to perform and do what we do best, and that’s try to put the puck in the net, be physical, and make some plays.”
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