Things started relatively slow for the Saints (3-2), as they headed into the final minute of the first period up 1-0. Then Austin Roy and Cooper Richard scored 17 seconds apart to make it 3-0 St. Dom’s after one. Richard opened the scoring less than seven minutes in from Roy.

“We knew they were definitely going to come out hard,” Roy said. “Once we got those first few goals, we knew that we couldn’t let up. We had to keep our foot on the pedal, and that’s what we did.”

The Saints added another trio of goals in the second to pull well ahead of the winless Bandits (0-3), who kept it close for a while thanks to stellar goaltending from junior goalie Curtis Martin.

“Curtis is a gamer,” Bandits head coach Ted Fabian said of Martin. “We know every time Curtis is in net he’s going to give us a chance.”

Martin robbed St. Dom’s on multiple occasions, but the Saints were able to get to rebounds and bury them. Noah Toussaint did just that to open the second-period scoring, as he put home a rebound of a Nate Richard shot five minutes in.

There was no rebound when Roy ripped a shot from between the circles past Martin five minutes later.

Reese Farrell made it 6-0 with 88 seconds left in the middle period, as he flipped a shot over Martin at the right post.

The Bandits made a goalie switch between the second and third periods, putting freshman Hunter Raye in to relieve Martin, who made 21 saves on 27 shots.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have it in front of him tonight,” Fabian said. “It’s 6-0 at that point. Hunter hasn’t had a chance yet.”

The Saints’ power play came alive in the third, as they scored three times with Bandits in the penalty box. Gavin Bates scored first of the trio seven minutes in, Roy scored on a 5-on-3 with just over a minute left and Nate Richard finished off the scoring with 14 seconds remaining in the game.

“Power play was pretty good,” St. Dom’s head coach Bob Parker said.

Toussaint scored an even-strength goal 10 minutes into the third. He was one of seven St. Dom’s players with multiple points in the game.

“From the beginning of the season I really think we’ve really come a long way. We’re just jelling a lot better as a team,” said Roy, who had a team-high five points. “A lot of our goals are plays, they’re not individual goals.”

Kyle Welsh stopped all eight shots he faced in net for the Saints, who had their biggest win of the season. Yet Parker said there is still more work to be done.

“To play with the better teams in the league we have to do better than what we did,” Parker said. “We have to execute a lot better.”

The Saints return to action on Monday when they host Cheverus.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link