Freshman Romeo St. Pierre of Edward Little is surrounded by teammates after scoring his third goal of the game Wednesday against Fryeburg/Lake Region/Oxford Hills. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

AUBURN — Ice time was plentiful for the players in uniform Wednesday for the Edward Little boys’ hockey team.

The Red Eddies are dealing with sickness throughout the roster, and only 11 skaters and one goalie suited up for their game against Fryeburg/Lake Region/Oxford Hills.

Nine of those skaters recorded at least one point in a 9-2 victory over the Ice Cats at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

“We got the flu going through the team right now, so coming into this one, we knew we were going to be short,” Edward Little coach Kevin Smith said. “But we just told the guys to keep it simple and get pucks deep … and pounce on the opportunities when they’re given to us.”

The Fryeburg co-op (5-1) was missing one of its star players, Jokubas Mostavicius, but coach Wayne Neiman said the game plan didn’t change.

“We were kind of just planning it just as normal,” Neiman said. “They still had kind of their heavy-hitter forwards. So we really just kind of talked about the game plan, about them utilizing (the) backdoor in the high slot. And unfortunately, today, they exposed us pretty good on that.”

How did it happen

• The Red Eddies (5-2) had fresh legs in the first period and took a 2-0 lead. Nolan Heath went coast-to-coast for the game’s first goal nearly five minutes into the game, and Jack Caron scored with a shot from the right circle 12 minutes in.

• The Ice Cats tied it early in the second on goals by Kiefer Gilligan and Gunner Truman. Breccan Albert and Romeo St. Pierre then finished off nice passing plays to give Edward Little a 4-2 lead, and a backhand goal by Heath made it a three-goal lead.

“It was a lot better, because usually I don’t get that (many) minutes, but today I did,” St. Pierre said. “Mostly it was just the tipper out front. It was big, got the boys going, and got our momentum going.”

• St. Pierre scored twice in the third. Caron and Orrin Slover each added a goal.

Notable quotes

“It was pretty big to stay energized, like get a lot of water on the bench and rest up with short numbers.”— Nolan Heath

“So we were trying to rotate guys through and try to stay a little bit more fresh, because obviously with them having a shorter bench, we kind of thought maybe if we could at least tire them out, keep it close, we could kind of excel through the third.” — Wayne Neiman

Statistical leaders

• Fryeburg co-op: Kiefer Gilligan (goal); Gunner Truman (goal, assist); Charlie Herrick (24 saves)

• Edward Little: Romeo St. Pierre (three goals, assist); Nolan Heath (two goals, three assists); Jack Caron (two goals, assist); Caden Westhoven (14 saves)