HEBRON – Jake Tracy is at his most dangerous when he can find some open ice.

Saturday morning, Gray-New Gloucester/Poland found out just how dangerous the Skowhegan forward can be.

Tracy had a pair of goals and two assists to lead the Indians to a 6-2 win over the Patriotic Knights at Robinson Arena on the campus of Hebron Academy.

“When he gets his speed going, he’s hard to stop,” Skowhegan coach Scott Holmes said. “He gets quite a few breaks because of his speed, a lot of breakaways and 2-on-1s.”

All of the Indians’ offense may have been necessary, too, had it not been for goaltender Jimmy Quirion. Unorthodox in style, Quirion frustrated the Patriotic Knights’ offense all night, making 33 saves on 35 shots.

“He’s just a sophomore, and he only saw two games last year as a freshman,” Holmes said. “When he comes to play, though, he can play. He’s not the most technically sound goaltender, but he can make the saves.”

Both of Gray-New Gloucester/Poland’s goals came on the man advantage, something coach Brad Davie has been working particularly hard on with his young squad.

“We had about an hour of practice (Friday) night on that,” Davie said. “It looked good today. We have to learn how to be more patient as a team. We’re young, but we have talent and they learn the concepts well.”

The Patriotic Knights (4-6) started well. On the team’s first power play, defenseman Gardner Lajoie pounded the puck past Quirion from the left post as he pinched in from the point to put his team ahead 1-0.

Showhegan rebounded with a power play goal of its own at 8:50 of the first, and Tracy netted his first at 13:22 to give the Indians the lead for good.

“That first goal they got kind of woke us up,” Holmes said. “I told the kids, we drove 2 hours to play, we might as well show up and win the game.”

Tracy scored his second goal at 7:06 of the second to put the Indians (2-6) ahead 3-1.

The game took a turn with about five minutes to play in the second, when Lajoie went careening into the boards by his own bench. The game was stopped for nearly a half hour while rescue crews worked on the defenseman.

But Skowhegan spoiled the comeback in the third. Nate Nixon, Grady Michonski and Luke Ouirion all scored to extend the Indians’ lead and salt the game away.

Sophomore Sean Bilodeau turned aside 29 of the 35 shots he saw in the loss for Gray-New Gloucester/Poland.


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