AUBURN — Edward Little High School didn’t go all floral and formal for its three boys’ hockey seniors’ final home game.

Partially responsible for that downsized pageantry was a rare 4 p.m. Tuesday start time, when most parents were still working and Ingersoll Arena was barely waking up for the night and even colder than usual. But maybe the real reason is that Mat Gordon, Dylan Pomerleau and Austin Polisky still hope to suit up for at least one more game at their rink.

All three upperclassmen scored at least one point in EL’s 4-1 victory over Gorham. It gave the fifth-ranked Red Eddies a fair fistful of Heal Points as they continue their quest to leapfrog Bangor and/or St. Dom’s and earn the right to host an Eastern Class A quarterfinal.

“It was kind of scary knowing that it would be our last home game for sure if we didn’t win,” said Pomerleau, who transferred from Lewiston prior to his senior season.

Pomerleau and Gordon set up sophomore Jared Pelletier’s power-play goal in the first period.

The Eddies struggled to regain their edge after Gorham’s Connor Smith tied it with the man advantage less than three minutes later. But Polisky assisted Cody Russell’s eventual game-winner midway through the second period. Gordon and Dylan Nadeau applied dual exclamation points with a pair of unassisted power-play strikes in the third.

“We didn’t play our best hockey game. I don’t know what it was. We took a couple of stupid penalties early and let them hang around for a while,” said EL coach Craig Latuscha. “Luckily we pulled this one out. I guess good teams find a way to win. We’ve been playing pretty well and had some victories this year. When you play a bad game and you’re still able to come out on top, I guess that’s positive.”

EL (13-4) has won 10 of its last 11 games. The Eddies wrap up the season in Hebron against Gray-New Gloucester/Poland next Monday.

Rich Belanger needed only a dozen saves to notch the victory. Two of those, however, stymied breakaways by Steven Broy and Sean Grandmaison in the first period.

The Eddies needed Belanger’s handiwork and Pelletier’s tip-in to keep the game knotted at intermission despite a two-to-one shots disparity in their favor.

“It was a little tough. We didn’t have time to prepare like we usually do,” Gordon said. “We had to come here right after school. It was a little slow to get going.”

Still, EL was the first team to score against Gorham (8-7) in three games.

“And when we score,” Pomerleau added, “we usually score in bunches.”

The floodgates didn’t quite open in the second period, despite three additional 5-on-4 forays. Cam Bennett’s blast from the slot appeared to give EL a 2-1 lead, but the goal was disallowed after it was deflected past Gorham goalie Nate Holloran by a high stick.

EL continued to apply the pressure, though, and Russell redirected Polisky’s bid at 7:36.

Three minor penalties, a five-minute major, a 10-minute misconduct and a game disqualification symbolized Gorham’s unraveling in the third period.

Gordon went end-to-end without interruption after Gorham iced the puck, zigzagging to Holloran’s doorstep and making it 3-1 at 5:58. Nadeau walked in alone for the capper with 1:07 to go.

“We’re usually pretty good at keeping our composure,” Gordon said. “When other teams hit us, we try not to hit back so we can get power plays or at least stay 5-on-5.”

As a four-year varsity player who’s seen his share of lean times, Gordon knows that his coach’s constructive criticism about style points is a sign that the Eddies’ few departing players have left the program on much thicker ice.

“I think we won eight total games the previous two years,” he recalled. “We’ve improved a lot.” 

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