AUBURN — It’s hard to imagine a better start to the season than what the St. Dominic Academy girls’ hockey has accomplished through two games. The Saints secured their second straight blowout victory Wednesday night, skating past visiting Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach 10-2 at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

Kristina Cornelio scored four goals and assisted on another, and Avery Lutrzykowski added a hat trick and an assist for the Saints (2-0), who have tallied 22 goals combined between their first two games of the season.

“It feels great, because we’ve been working so hard at practice, and this is our opener here at home,” Cornelio said. “I feel like things started to come together nicely that we worked on at practice, and we put a few in, so that was good.”

It took a couple of shots for the Saints to find their target, as they rang a couple shots off the post. The second of those proved to be useful, however, as Tia Rotolico’s post shot paved the way for Callie Samson’s opening marker six minutes in.

The Saints weren’t especially proficient in scoring in the opening period, finding success on just two of their 15 shots. Cornelio scored the second of the two on a breakaway with two minutes left.

“You could say there was a little frustration,” Cornelio said. “But you know it’ll come, and when it comes they start racking up.”

Rack up goals, the Saints did early in the second period. Bugsy Hammerton scored from Lutrzykowski 2:28 in, then Cornelio tallied her second just nine seconds later. The freshman then completed her hat trick 14 seconds after that.

“I had an open lane. I saw top-left, so I just ripped it,” Cornelio said.

The Stags (2-1) ended their shutout just under five minutes into the second. Elizabeth Cain took advantage of a St. Dom’s giveaway in its own end and found Lilly Wolff open for a goal.

Wolff added an unassisted goal with just over one minute left in the period, giving the Stags life down 5-2, but Lutrzykowski scored 10 seconds later to grab momentum right back for the Saints.

“I’m not focusing on goals right now. Obviously we’ve scored some,” Saints head coach Paul Gosselin said. “I wasn’t really happy with some of the play. I think we were a little bit sloppy in the second period.”

Despite doubling up the Stags in the scoring in the middle period, the Saints showed a little bit of a letdown from their first-period play. After blasting 15 shots in the first, St. Dom’s had nine in the second, while watching the Stags shoot seven times against Saints goalie Payton Winslow.

The Saints finished strong, however, as Lutrzykowski scored twice, Cornelio scored her fourth goal, and Lexie Kesaris put the final nail in the coffin.

Eight of the Saints’ 10 goals came from their large freshmen class, none of whom looked a bit nervous in their high school home opener.

“We’ve played so long together, and we just know each other so well, playing other sports,” Cornelio said of the freshmen chemistry. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

“That’s a luxury that most coaches don’t get,” Gosselin said of the immediate chemistry. “I never expected that many goals. I knew that they were a hard-working group, and they’ve got some skill sets. I think it’s come together fairly well.”

Cornelio showed wisdom beyond her age after the game, not wanting to put too much stock into the team’s blazing fast start.

“There’s some confidence … but that’s only two games,” Cornelio said. “We don’t want to think too far ahead. We want to take it one game at a time.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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