Yarmouth/Freeport girls hockey beats Edward Little co-op in North final

The No. 2 Clippers avenge their only losses of the season, earning their third trip to the state final in four years.

Posted February 11

Updated February 12

Yarmouth/Freeport players celebrate a goal by Erin O’Connor in the first period Wednesday against the Edward Little co-op in the North regional final at Portland’s Troubh Ice Arena. The Clippers won their third regional title in four years. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

PORTLAND — Simply put, the Yarmouth/Freeport girls hockey team had been there before.

No. 2 Yarmouth/Freeport used its experience Wednesday to knock off No. 1 Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland/Oxford Hills 3-1 in the North region final, earning its third trip to the state championship game in four years.

The top-ranked Red Hornets (18-2) beat Yarmouth/Freeport (16-2-2) twice during the regular season, 4-1 on Jan. 3 and 2-1 on Jan. 19. But they fell behind early against the No. 2 team in the Varsity Maine poll and were denied what would have been their first regional championship.

“We always said playing EL is like playing the best team in the state, the way they were ranked,” Clippers coach Dave Intraversato said. “We stayed with them the last time we played them, so we kind of knew how to play against them (this time).

“I told the girls, beginning of the game, that this was our comfort zone. We’ve played at Troubh Arena so many times, these kids grew up playing here, and we’ve been in this predicament before, playing in many playoffs, so I told them to be comfortable.”

Yarmouth/Freeport made Edward Little uncomfortable early, as senior Sophie White scored on a tipped shot at 1:25 of the first period.

“It was an unexpected goal,” White said. “No one saw it coming. I think that’s what made us so confident, the fact that we scored second shift in, because we knew that the first goal was going to make the energy of the game, either way. So it was really important for us to take that goal, and take the opportunity and roll with it.”

Senior forward Erin O’Connor doubled the lead at 10:05 by cleaning up a rebound after a shot from Presley Strout.

Strout, a freshman forward, made it 3-0 at 12:53 with a strong slap shot from the left point.

Entering the regional final, the Red Hornets had allowed only nine goals all season, and never more than two in a game (against the Biddeford co-op, twice). Their offense averaged nearly six goals per game.

“Yarmouth showed their experience tonight, they were ready at the drop of the puck,” Red Hornets coach Dana Berube said. “We started (slow), you can’t have a first period like that in a playoff game. We were doing a little bit too much watching in the first, and hopefully we’ll learn from it. We’ll have no choice (but) to learn from it.”

Edward Little almost caught a break at the second-period buzzer when a shot from the neutral zone by Adalyn Martin wound up in the net, but the referees ruled it offside.

The Red Hornets got on the board 2:34 into the third when sophomore forward Leksi Langevin set up junior forward Kylie Dulac for a one-timer in front of the net.

Paige Fecteau stopped 37 shots for the Red Hornets, while Lydia Costa made 18 saves for the Clippers, who will take on either Cheverus/Windham/Medomak or Biddeford/Kennebunk/Thornton/Wells/Sanford in Saturday’s state final at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.

“Lydia played out of her mind at the end there to keep the puck out of the net, (we) killed off (three) penalties in the second period, and it was just a full team effort,” Intraversato said. “Our four senior captains were just unbelievable tonight as leaders — on and off the ice, in the locker room, just everything they were saying, what they were doing. They kept their composure and they just played unbelievable tonight.”