Thornton routs Kennebunk 12-2

BIDDEFORD — Had Thornton Academy hockey supporters followed tradition Monday at Biddeford Ice Arena, they would have run out of hats.

A trio of Golden Trojans ”“ Robbie Downing, Andrew Carignan and Alex Lambert ”“ each notched three-goal hat tricks in leading Thornton to a 12-2 rout of Kennebunk.

“It’s my first,” said Lambert, a junior who skates on the third forward line of the deep Thornton attack. “I don’t put the puck in the net that often. But it feels good. I couldn’t do it without the team.”

Scoring became a team exercise for the Trojans.

All four forward units chipped in goals, which is a testament to the depth the defending state champions enjoy.

“They’re loaded,” said Kennebunk coach Don Hill. “It’s hard to match up with that.”

The Trojans (8-1) started quickly with a goal from Bryan Dallaire, 3:23 into the contest.

After being set up by linemate Downing, Dallaire connected from the slot to send Thornton on a run of four first-period tallies.

Just 25 seconds later, Downing netted his first of the game with a shot from just outside the left post.

Next to connect was Lambert with his first of the game at 8:39 with assists going to Taylor Brown and Filip Takac.

“We were feeling good,” said Lambert. “We were getting (the puck) deep and playing pretty well all around offense and defense.”

Downing capped that period with his second goal of the game, which paved the way for Thornton’s five-goal eruption in the second period as it built a 10-0 lead.

“I thought we executed well, early,” said Thornton coach Jamie Gagnon. “And I’m very happy with the fact that it’s two consecutive games without a penalty. That’s a good accomplishment for this group.”

Kennebunk (5-3) scored twice on Thornton’s backup goalie, Andrew Huot, with Ned Richard and Nick Manuel getting credit for the goals.

Fourth-liner Justin Cloutier answered back for Thornton with 2:38 to play, making it 11-2.

Then, 1:07 later, Lambert capped the scoring while getting his hat trick with a lunging second effort that enabled him to poke the puck through the pads of Rams’ goalie Mike LeBlanc.

“He (LeBlanc) had a piece of it,” said Lambert, “but he couldn’t come through on it. You have to bear down in a situation like that. I just gave it a nice little whack and it went in. I didn’t think about it that much.”

Thornton will host Falmouth on Saturday at BIA with a chance to repay the Yachtsmen, who handed the Trojans their only loss of the year.

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