AUBURN — In their thrilling overtime win Wednesday night, one thing that aided the cause of the Poland-Gray-New Gloucester hockey team was its opponent’s inability to finish.

The Patriotic Knights weren’t so fortunate Saturday.

The Maranacook-Hall Dale-Winthrop Hawks scored four straight to open the game and cruised to a 8-1 win over the Knights.

“They were a better team,” said Knights coach Aaron Rand. “They passed the puck well. They cashed in on their chances. Give them credit. They played well.”

MHW put up 47 shots to seven for the Knights.  Calvin Shelley played well in net facing a constant attack.

“Their goalie was very strong,” said MHW coach Andy Dube. “He played a great game. He saw (47) shots and made a lot of saves.”

Jared Hanson led MHW with four goals and an assist. Dan Condon had two goals and two assists while Bailey Clark also scored a pair of goals. Matt Plourde added four assists.

“We put pressure on them and skated well,” said Dube. “We skated three consistent lines for the first time in a couple of years.”

Ethan Caillier had the lone goal for Poland-GNG.

“They were a little more physical than what we saw the other night,” said Rand, whose team was outshot by Edward Little Wednesday but won in overtime 1-0. “They put pressure on us, and we had a hard time controlling the middle of the ice.”

MHW scored just 4:45 into the game when Hanson finished off a Plourde pass. Then with 5:17 left in the period, Condon tipped one in front for the 2-0 lead. Clark scored on the power play with 4:23 left, and Condon scored his second to make it 4-0 with 2:59 remaining.

“Scoring early is the key,” said Dube. “You get a couple of goals early, you’re all set. I would have liked to see some more finishing, but their goalie was tough. He was in position a lot.”

Poland-GNG got its lone goal on the power play with 43 seconds left in the first. Caillier stole the puck and broke in alone for the tally. The Knights were outshot 17-2 in the first.

“We’re a young team,” said Rand. “We lost 10 kids from last year. “It’s early in the season. We’re just getting our legs. I like the character of our team, and we’ve going to be fine.”

Hanson scored twice in the second, one while shorthanded to build the lead to 6-0. Then in the final period, Clark scored on a wrister and Hanson scored again with 44 seconds left.

“Our defense played really solid only allowing seven shots,” said Dube. “I’ve got to give it to the defense. You can’t have any offesne without the defense back there.”

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