Kolby Arnold is a good player at Gray-New Gloucester/Poland.

His coaches know it, of course, but so, too, do all of the Patriotic Knights’ opponents.

After starting the season strong, Arnold has run into some difficulty finding the net against top teams St. Dom’s, Brunswick and Waterville.

“Their stacking up on him, and it’s not just one guy. They’re layering when he’s out there,” Gray-NG/Poland coach Aaron Rand said. “He’s a good player, but he’s having to dish the puck off earlier than he wants to, and then he’s having a hard time getting it back.”

That said, Arnold is still averaging a goal per game through four contests.

“When he gets the chances, he can bury the puck, no question,” Rand said.

The Patriotic Knights, meanwhile, are 1-3, but have played the meatiest part of their schedule already. Games loom with Messalonskee, Mt. Ararat (twice) and Maranacook/Hall-Dale/Winthrop in the coming days.

Wake up!

High school students, by and large, are not morning people.

The Lewiston High School hockey team’s players are apparently no exception.

The Blue Devils, skating early in the morning Saturday at St. Dom’s annual Bishop’s Cup tournament at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, dropped a 3-0 decision to Berlin High School of New Hampshire, despite holding a hefty advantage in shots on goal and scoring chances.

“We got off to a bit of a slow start; our legs just weren’t there,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “That said, we had some good scoring chances and put the puck on net a lot, but we just couldn’t bury them.”

St. Dom’s, meanwhile, also skated off to a slow start, rebounding to win its opener 5-3 with an empty-net goal late.

Lewiston then rebounded to win its nightcap, a 6-1 non-countable game against Brunswick, which has rocketed out to a 3-0 start this season in countable games.

“We had a 3-0 lead right off the top in the first period,” Belleau said. “After that, it was basically a done deal. It was such a difference from the morning game.

Early win for the Eddies

After struggling for much of last season, Edward Little was happy this weekend to skate away with its first win of the season in just the team’s second countable contest.

“We came out flat, like we had cement in our skates, but we battled through it,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said. “It started to feel like it was last year all over again for a little while.”

The Eddies got down 2-0 before striking for a pair of early power-play goals in the third to swing the momentum.

“We scored six goals in the third period. Everything just started clicking,” Latuscha said. “We started to pass well, do the little things well. It was unbelieveable.”

Rivalry highlights weekend tourney

With the Bishop’s Cup in the rearview mirror, the teams at Auburn’s Ingersol Arena will get into the December tournament act this weekend.

Edward Little will host the Gipper’s Tourney this Friday and Saturday, featuring three area teams and a fourth team with area ties.

Edward Little will take on Leavitt in a battle of teams that call Ingersol home. Leavitt and EL both recently won their first games of the year.

“Any time we get those two teams, it’s intense,” Latuscha said.

Gray-New Gloucester/Poland will take on Westbrook in the night’s other contest. Westbrook is coached by former St. Dom’s skater Travis Jalbert.