Kyle Smith notches a hat trick as Edward Little blanks Cheverus.
By Kevin Mills
Staff Writer

AUBURN – The last two seasons the Cheverus hockey team has found success at Ingersoll Arena.

The Stags have come to town and beaten Edward Little in consecutive years, but Wednesday, it was a very different welcome.

EL scored four goals in the first period and rolled to a 7-0 victory.

Matt Couturier scored twice in the first period and Kyle Smith finished with three goals and an assist as unbeaten EL (3-0) handed Cheverus (2-1) its first loss of the year.

“We played pretty well in the first period,” said EL coach Jamie Belleau. “The biggest thing was the other team made a couple of mistakes, and we capitalized on them. Other than that, it wasn’t our best period, but we’ll take it.”

The early lead gave goaltender Kris Bennett plenty to work with. He finished with 19 saves for his first shutout of the season.

“We expect that of Kris,” said Belleau. “He’s had a year of varsity under his belt. He’s played very consistent and strong the last three games. We’re going to need that if we’re going to go deep and be successful this season.”

EL had a solid defensive effort. Belleau says he stressed the need for his team to forecheck well and move the puck. As a result, the Stags struggled to create a lot of scoring chances. Cheverus managed just four shots in the second period.

“We talked about that all week,” he said. “We talked about making sure our forwards went back deep into the defensive end and made sure the defense got back and moved the puck up quickly.”

EL only outshot the Stags 9-7 in the first period, but the four goals made a huge difference. EL simply got a few quality chances and cashed in.

“They’re a quality team and they took advantage of our mistakes,” said Cheverus coach Jack Lowry. “I told the guys before the game that we really needed to focus on our face-offs because they’re a good face-off team. They scored two goals off the face-offs. Every chance they got, they took the opportunity and they converted.”

The first goal came off a face-off win by Kevin Pontbriand. The puck came back to Matt Nadeau at the top of the circle for a quick wrister 5:32 into the game.

At 9:21, EL took advantage of Cheverus goaltender John Spring straying out of the net. A quick pass by Pontbriand to Couturier in front caught the netminder out of position.

EL added two more goals in the final 2:26. Off a face-off in the defensive end, Couturier skated down the right wing. He centered to Pontbriand in front, who slid the puck back to him at the left post. Smith added his first of the evening with 1:42 left. He skated out of the right corner and stuffed the puck by Spring.

“We certainly have some experience up front,” said Belleau. “I’m really pleased with the way the Couturier-Pontbriand-Nadeau line moved the puck in the first period. I think they had three goals out of four. That gives us some nice balance offensively. It’s nice to see the goals spread around.”

Cheverus played some of its better hockey in the second and third period. Bennett made a pair of nice saves on a two-on-none in the third. EL finished the game off with two goals on its first three shots of the third.

Smith scored both. He finished off a shorthanded breakaway and then blasted one from the right circle. Smith then set up Colby Gilbert for a one-timer in front with 4:20 left.

“I think we ran out of gas in the third period, and they again took advantage of their opportunities,” said Lowry. “That’s a veteran team. They played like they’re used to being there. I think they’re going to be the team to beat this year.”