WINSLOW — It wasn’t the best opening to the winter sports season for Winslow. But, all things considered, it wasn’t the worst, either.
Girls hockey teams started practicing Nov. 7, and Friday was the first day for games that count. With 10 players on the team who haven’t played hockey before and no scrimmages during the preseason, Winslow dropped a 7-4 decision to Scarborough at Sukee Arena.
Additional Photos
“Overall, I’d say our girls did well, considering,” Winslow coach Eric Lachance said. “These girls have never experienced any other types of skaters besides what they’re used to skating with in practice. I honestly think the girls did really well.”
The first two minutes were beyond what Winslow could have hoped, as the Black Raiders used veterans Jen Poulin and Sarah Fowler to take a 2-0 lead just 1:27 into the game. Both scored unassisted goals on Scarborough goalie Shannon Hicks, who is filling in while starter Devan Kane is out with an injury. Hicks allowed goals on her first three shots but discarded her jitters after that and made some nice stops.
“We were kind of looking at each other, debating whether to call a timeout, kind of to settle her down and settle the team down,” Scarborough coach Caitlin Cashman said. “But we knew they were going to push forward, and they did. Shannon saw that her teammates weren’t upset, so that helped her gain some confidence in the net.”
Barely five minutes after Winslow had taken a two-goal lead, the Red Storm had a lead of their own. First, Kristina Block scored in front with 12:54 to play. Less then three minutes later, Rachel Wallace poked in a rebound. And with 8:28 to go, Block unleashed the prettiest pass of the night, sending one from the left corner to a wide-open Alyssa Huist on the right post for the goal.
Fowler and Huist each picked up another goal before the end of the period, which ended with Scarborough on top, 4-3. At that point, the Red Storm had a 22-4 advantage in shots on goal, and that stat foreshadowed how the rest of the game would play out. Winslow goalie Jessica Cain was ill and still made 37 saves, including a few on breakaways, but Scarborough outshot the Raiders, 44-11.
“Really what hurt us is just the basics,” Lachance said. “Start and stop, transition. Get back into the play with our backcheck, and hitting the net.”
Scarborough added goals by Block and Samantha Nablo in the second period, then pushed its lead to 7-3 in the third when Block went top shelf on a breakaway for the hat trick. Poulin scored for Winslow with 1:47 to play, and she was robbed of a hat trick with 10 seconds left when her shot went off Hicks and the right post.
Winslow had 16 players for Friday’s game. That meant for a lot of them, the first weeks of practice were spent on simply learning to skate. There will no doubt be some lumps along the way, but Lachance was optimistic that his newcomers were learning the game quickly and could potentially make an impact.
“For not having any knowledge, a lot of them are starting to really grasp it,” Lachance said. “So I expect us to get much better from here.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.