One-hundred-sixty-eight, divided by 21.

I’ll wait a second.

Eight. The answer is an ungodly eight.

The question: How many goals per game did St. Dominic Academy score this season?

Eight. Over 21 games.

That’s otherworldly in hockey, regardless of gender, and it borders on lunacy in any other sport, at any other level.

Eight goals. Eight scoring plays. Per game.

And in the biggest game of the year, on the biggest stage, St. Dom’s eclipsed its average, shoveling an even 10 goals into the Falmouth net to earn a second consecutive state title.

This one, perhaps, more special than the previous, if only because the team’s 21 wins were complemented by a ‘0’ in the loss column, and another under “ties.” A year ago, the Saints finished strong after an early-season loss to Greely. And the Rangers, to their credit, gave the Saints their best games this season, as well, holding them to three goals in the regular season in a 3-2 St. Dom’s win. Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland also held the Saints to three goals in a 3-2 game.

But neither the Red Hornets nor the Rangers were on the ice Saturday.

Instead, a strong, resilient and perennially contending Falmouth squad toed the blue line during introductions. They stood together during the anthem, facing a flag that was unfortunately situated near a Lewiston High School girls’ hockey championship banner earned at the Yachtsmen’s expense two years ago. This Falmouth senior class went to four consecutive regional finals, and won two of them.

This year, two years after that loss to the Blue Devils, they earned another shot.

That shot lasted 3 minutes, 3 seconds. Avery Lutrzykowski snuck a shot past senior keeper Ally Hurdman. Twenty-seven seconds later, Emma Theriault blasted one past Hurdman from the point. And another 34 seconds later, Lexi Kasaris made it 3-0.

Three shots, three goals in 1:01 — and well on pace to reach eight.

“I’m sure it was a bit of nerves,” said Falmouth coach Rob Carrier, who took his team’s one timeout after the third St. Dom’s strike.

“And then when they got that second goal, I think it put us really back on our heels,” Carrier continued. “That third one just came really easy for them. I think that kind of dictated the way that St. Dom’s was going to play the game.”

It’s the way St. Dom’s has played the game all season.

“We want to start quick and see how fast we can pop them in, and it came quick today,” St. Dom’s coach Paul Gosselin said.

No kidding.

The other half of the scoring statistics game is equally impressive, of course.

Twenty, divided by 21.

This one is a bit tricky.

Point-nine-five. An even gaudier number than eight.

The question here: How many goals per game did St. Dominic Academy allow this season?

That means junior keeper Payton Winslow, junior defender Katya Fons and sophomore defenders Izzy Frenette and Emma Theriault, with help from back checking forwards, have allowed fewer than a goal per game into their own cage.

Those inclined to err on the side of averages had to know that, with the Saints ahead 3-0, Falmouth was then a statistical long shot, at best. This was no longer going to be, “if,” but rather, “by how much?”

Two more goals before the end of the first frame more than cemented the final outcome.

But it did nothing to change the way either team played — hard and fast. It’s a trait that has allowed the Saints to become the juggernaut they are, and it’s a trait — though tested by tough losses in big games over the past four seasons — that has helped Falmouth maintain a level of excellence in the South region.

To that end, the Yachtsmen got one back in the second. And with the score well out of hand in the third, they added another.

“Being able to get a goal at the end of the game really helped (mentally),” Carrier said.

It was a sign of true grit and determination, of the competitive spark alive in hockey players at all levels.

And that competitive spark, that grit and determination and that love for the game, those were the common threads that bound all of the players who took to the ice Saturday — regardless of uniform color, regardless of the final score.

This week — this year — the Saints were the better team, by any measure.

Imagine a baseball team averaging an 8-1 scoring margin. Or a football team averaging eight scores to one in every contest. Or a basketball team scoring eight baskets for every one by an opposing team.

This what we all just witnessed this season.

Two hundred, divided by one.

That’s a gimme: 200.

The question: How long will it be before we see another performance as dominant as this has been?

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