LEWISTON —The Scarborough Red Storm controlled the game from start to finish Saturday in the 7-1 victory over the Thornton Academy Golden Trojans in the Western Class A hockey semifinals.
“One of my assistants has been here for 15 years, and he said he has never seen a Scarborough team play all three zones like we played,” Scarborough coach Norm Gagne said. “To only given up 12 shots to a (Thornton) team is unbelievable.”
No. 2 Scarborough (14-5-1) will face No. 1 Falmouth Tuesday at Androscoggin Bank Colisee at 8 p.m.
The Red Storm jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period using special teams. Their first two goals came on the power play. Cam Loiselle found Sean McGovern for the first goal at the 3:41. Jake Gross notched the second goal at the 14 seconds later with Eric Grantz setting it up.
They finished the game 3-for-6 on the man advantage. Thornton was 1 for 4.
Matt Henderson had a shorthanded breakaway to give Scarborough a 3-0 lead 6:41 into the game.
“With a team like (Scarborough) the last thing you can do is be battling uphill,” Thornton Academy coach Jamie Gagnon said. “Taking those two penalties early and getting behind early changed our game entirely.”
The second period was quiet until Grantz scored with 2:27 remaining in the stanza. Matthew Caron and Sam Dedian assisted.
Scarborough put it out of reach in the third period with two goals in the first three minutes.
Cam Nigro stretched the lead to 5-0 from Chris Flaherty and Loiselle 2:07 into the period. Cam Bruchu potted the sixth goal with Henderson and Loiselle picking up the assists 56 seconds later.
“For having 10 players that’s in their first year of varsity, it’s a credit to our (upperclassmen) to what they brought to the table,” Gagne said. “We’ve got a great group of seniors that keep preaching what we are preaching. They do a great job preaching to their peers.”
The Golden Trojans (8-11-1) finally found the scoreboard when Walsh Troiani-Gagner and Drew Lavigne found Taylor Browne found the back of the net at the 7:56 mark.
“They absolutely played an entire complete game,” Gagnon said. “We were battling early, and we couldn’t find the offense to get back in the game.”
Grantz picked up his second goal of the game with 4:30 remaining in the contest. McGovern and Caron added to their point total with assists.
Ben Bragg stopped 11 of 12 shots he faced while Oliwer Hogberg Karlsson made 28 saves for Thornton.
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