GORHAM – Two things could possibly have beaten St. Dom’s on Saturday night: A hot goalie, and itself.

Both did.

Scarborough goalie Ben Waller fought off 24 of the 26 shots he faced, including 12 in the third period, and the Saints spent nearly 20 minutes in the penalty box, killing their third-period rally in the process, as the Red Storm earned an opening-night 4-2 victory at the University of Southern Maine.

“You can’t win in Class A when you lose all diplomacy on the ice,” St. Dom’s coach John Pleau said. “You can’t be shorthanded in Class A this year, not with the quality of the goaltending that’s out there.”

The Saints started the third period down by two goals. They got one back at 1:17 of the period on a 4-on-4, and went on the power play shortly thereafter with a chance to tie things up.

But they came up empty.

Former St. Dom’s defenseman Jake Rutt, now a starter for Scarborough, leveled Saints’ forward Richard Paradis at the 8:33 mark when Paradis tried to drive the Red Storm net. St. Dom’s wanted a penalty, but none was called.

Andrew Nigro scored for Scarborough at 10:56, and that set tempers flaring. Cam Brown, frustrated all night, lifted his stick as a Scarborough player skated past him and clipped him in the neck, drawing a five-minute major.

St. Dom’s incurred two more minor penalties in the next four minutes, and any chance to come from behind was squashed.

“That was an embarrassment to our organization,” Pleau said.

On the other side of the ice, Scarborough, which graduated 14 seniors, looked more than capable for most of the first two periods. Nate Tolman finished a 2-on-1 at 3:46 of the first period to put the Red Storm ahead 1-0. Just 32 seconds into the second, Scarborough made it 2-0 on a Trevor Hoxsie strike.

Waller, a senior, was solid all night, which helped settle his young team down.

“They’re a quick team, they’re able to move the puck in our zone well,” Waller said. “The defense was able to keep the puck to the outside.”

“(Waller) was the one who kept us in the game tonight,” Scarborough coach Jay Mazur said. “St. Dom’s rotated the puck really well down low in our zone. You could tell after the first period, I don’t know that they had to do the ice (in their end). It was always in our end.”

St. Dom’s got one back at 1:21 on Richard Paradis’ first of the year, but Nate Gadbois buried a one-timer from the right circle on the power play to put his team back in front by two at 3-1.

Rutt called the victory over his former team “satisfying,” but admitted there were some nerves ahead of time.

“It’s hockey, though,” Rutt said. “On the ice, you have to put that behind you and play the game.”