AUBURN – It still wasn’t as disciplined a game as the Edward Little coaching staff was looking for, but considering the circumstances, they’ll take it.
Despite spending 16 of 45 minutes of Thursday night’s game against Mt. Ararat in the penalty box, the Red Eddies allowed just nine shots to reach sophomore goaltender Adam Loudermilk and potted four of their own, beating the Eagles 4-1 in the first round of the Gipper’s Tournament at Ingersoll Arena.
“The defense is getting a little bit better as we go along,” said Edward Little coach Craig Latuscha. “We’ve been working on pinching off the wing and on our angles and closing off the gaps, and it showed a lot tonight.”
The Eddies’ offense, meanwhile, unleashed a barrage of shots on Mt. Ararat’s Paul Baxter, who stopped 40 of the 44 shots he faced.
“It was all hustle tonight,” said Latuscha. “I think our guys outworked them. We finally played together for three whole periods instead of stopping after one or two. That was a big difference.”
Still, EL did have to kill off eight Mt. Ararat power plays, including two 5-on-3s.
“We played a little bit smarter, but the penalties still killed us,” said Latuscha. “It’s getting better, but we need to stop taking them.”
The Eagles actually scored first in this game when Brandon Wymann blasted the puck from the right point on a perfect power play set.
The lead lasted into the second period, until Billy Brewster managed to poke a rebound past Baxter at 2:01 of that period. That goal came on the Eddies’ sixth shot of the period, during which they managed 18 to Mt. Ararat’s one.
Corey Larue scored a goal at 7:59 to put EL ahead 2-1 with help from Matt Loudermilk and Kevin Smith.
In the third period, Cam Robichaud was credited with two goals at opposite ends of the period to ice the game. His first came at 3:33 on a rebound to the right of Baxter, and the second, which could have come from either Robichaud or Smith, came on another rebound in a pile of players to the left of the beleaguered netminder.
Edward Little will square off against Brunswick in the Gipper’s Tournament final tonight, while Mt. Ararat will face Lewiston in the consolation game starting at 6:30.
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