AUBURN – It’s fitting that at one time, Ingersoll Arena was an outdoor rink.

On Saturday night, in the second period of Edward Little’s season-opening Class A hockey tilt, the Eddies and the Bangor Rams resorted to some old-fashioned pond hockey, putting on a display of offense for those brave enough to weather the below-freezing temperatures inside the rink.

The Rams fired the final shot.

Bangor’s top line accumulated eight points and accounted for all six goals as the Rams out-gunned the Eddies 6-4.

“Both teams played aggressive, both teams played hard,” said EL coach Craig Latuscha.

Having scored the games two first goals, Bangor made Edward Little play catch-up. And the Eddies almost did – four times.

“We fell asleep in the defensive zone in the second period a little bit,” said Bangor coach Ted Taylor. “We got one, they got one, we got one, they got one. It was some good hockey. It was exciting to watch.”

After allowing two goals in the first period – one each to freshman Nick George and sophomore Josh Warren — Edward Little came out flying in the second.

“We hadn’t played in a week and we came out flat,” said Latuscha. Shawn Hird put EL on the board at 3:32 of the middle frame. Christian Dionne answered for Bangor at 4:57 and EL’s Corey LaRue answered back at 5:34. Warren potted his second of the game at 6:00 to make it 4-2 Bangor, but the Eddies would not go away.

“They kept coming, and they’re a physical team,” said Taylor.

“It was a tough game, and they played really well,” said Bangor defenseman Joel Whitney.

Billy Brewster again pulled EL to within one at 6:30, only to watch as Whitney notched his first of two on the night at 8:19.

Cory Binette finished the wild second period with a goal for EL at 13:45. Penalties ultimately killed EL’s chances at a comeback. In the third, Bangor goaltender Andrew Riley gloved a point-blank shot out of the air from Hird, and then the eddies took a series of penalties that allowed Bangor to control the play.

“That save, that was a great save,” said Latuscha. “We had the chances.”

The Rams finished off the scoring in the third on Whitney’s second goal, another low, hard shot from the right point.

“He had one goal all of last year,” said Taylor. “Now he has two in one game. We’ve been working with the defensemen all preseason to put the pucks low and hard at the net.”

“The guys were all in the goalie’s eyes,” said Whitney. “He couldn’t see any of them.”

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