AUBURN — St. Dominic Academy and Falmouth entered Wednesday’s contest trending in opposite directions. 

The Saints, unbeaten in their last eight contests, hadn’t lost a game since falling to the Yachtsmen back in the first month of the season. Falmouth, on the other hand, had lost four of its last five after opening the season with eight straight wins. 

None of that mattered. The two-time defending state champion Yachtsmen scored twice in the third period and Jake Grade netted the game-winning goal on the power play with 3:48 left as Falmouth skated to a 2-1 victory over St. Dom’s at Norway Savings Bank Arena. 

“It’s a character win,” Falmouth coach Deron Barton said. “It’s a big win for us seeing that we’ve been struggling a bit. We’ve also had a lot of young guys in the lineup and I gave them an opportunity to play. For some of the guys who have been playing well and struggling, it’s a big, big win for them.”

It seemed fitting Falmouth’s game-winner came on the power play as the Saints were whistled for seven penalties on the night. While the Yachtsmen were ineffective on all but one of their power plays, the energy exerted by the Saints to kill off those penalties took its toll.

St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette was less than pleased with his team’s lack of discipline. 

“No, not at all, especially three in the third,” Ouellette said. “It’s a long time in 15 minutes of hockey.”

Falmouth (10-4) dominated puck possession late in the second period and throughout the third. The Yachtsmen outshot the Saints 8-2 in the third and 26-13 in the game. 

Trailing 1-0 entering the third period, Falmouth got on the board 2:05 into the frame. Henry Norris connected on a centering pass from Jack Mainella to tie the game. 

“The message from me was to stay patient,” Barton said. “Don’t over do it, just keep playing the way we have, be patient, keep putting the puck on net and eventually it’s going to go in and it did.” 

The Saints (9-2-1) went the opening nine minutes of the third period without a shot, but their first chance was a golden one. Caleb Labrie got behind the Falmouth defense and skated in alone on a breakaway. Falmouth goaltender Ryan Bonnvie came up with the save and Labrie took a penalty a few moments later as the momentum swung wildly in a span of 20 seconds. 

“Hats off to Ryan,” Grade said. “He definitely saved us the game there. If that goes in we lose that game.”

Despite coming up empty in their first five chances, the Yachtsmen capitalized with the man advantage this time around. With two seconds remaining on the penalty, Grade fired a shot from the blue line through traffic that slipped by St. Dom’s goaltender Ridge Servidio to give Falmouth its first lead of the game with 3:48 left. 

“They were given us the points a little bit, so we were trying to work it up D-to-D and whoever was open we were going to get a low shot on net because we were looking for a tip,” Grade said. “It was what we were trying to do all game.” 

St. Dom’s hope for a late equalizer took a big hit when Labrie was called for his third penalty of the period, an interference infraction behind the play. The Saints pulled Servidio with a minute left, but the Yachtsmen held the zone and St. Dom’s never recorded a shot with the sixth skater. 

“Give Falmouth credit,” Ouellette said. “All three of their lines worked hard all night and created opportunities all night. Unfortunately, we only had a few guys who seemed to be skating for three periods.” 

Labrie had a frustrating third period, but he did give the Saints a 1-0 lead with 7:48 remaining in the first. On a night where shots were at a premium for St. Dom’s, Labrie made his count on the team’s first power play of the game. A minute into a holding penalty assessed to Falmouth’s Reece Armitage, Labrie circled behind the cage and jammed a puck past Bonnvie. It took three or four whacks, but Labrie managed to push the puck under Bonnvie’s glove.

That was all the offense St. Dom’s could muster as Bonnvie stopped the other 12 shots he faced. Servidio finished with 24 saves.