BIDDEFORD — Thornton Academy goalie Jay Finch occasionally would skate around the net to settle a loose puck. He sometimes got in position.

But Finch needed to exert little effort Tuesday night as second-seeded Thornton beat seventh-ranked Scarborough 6-0 in a Western Class A quarterfinal at the Biddeford Ice Arena.

The Trojans outshot Scarborough, 41-9.

C.J. Maksut scored two goals. Robert Downing recorded a goal and two assists, and Nicholas Chen added a goal and assist.

Brett Levasseur and Alex Fallon also scored.

And Finch stopped all nine shots he saw. Doug Pitts, made 35 saves for the Red Storm (9-10).

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Thornton (14-5) will play in Saturday´s semifinal at Lewiston, against third-seeded Marshwood/Traip Academy.

The Trojans have four straight shutouts, including 5-0 against St. Dominic to end the regular season.

“That´s probably our greatest area of improvement,” Thornton Coach Shawn Rousseau said of the defense. “Our last 14 periods have been scoreless. It´s no secret that our defensemen are playing very well and our goalie is playing very well.”

Thornton´s three defensive lines starred in this game — Tyler Danley and Brandon Veilleux, Jonathan Herlihy and Dakota Matthews, and Ryan Locke and Jonathan Dupee.

They formed quite a wall in front of Finch.

“They have speed and they have experience,” Scarborough Coach Norm Gagne said.

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The Red Storm had the best chance early when Jordan Bathe and Hunter Lynch took off on a short-handed rush. But Finch stood his ground and made the save.

The Trojans then took control, taking a 3-0 first-period lead.

On the same power play, a slap shot bounced off a defenseman´s skate right to Chen. He knocked it right in at 8:16. Andrew Carignan and Tyler Danley assisted.

Maksut buried a perfect pass from Sam Canales at 10:21, and Levasseur scored on Chen´s pass at 12:56.

Thornton got only one goal in the second period (Maksut from Downing), but the Trojans outshot Scarborough 15-0 in the period.

“Scarborough played well. Their forwards were buzzing,” Rousseau said.

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“Our defensemen were able to outskate them and protect our net nicely.”

In the third, Downing scored on a power play from Jon Pate and Locke.

Fallon rebounded his own shot to finish the scoring.

 Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:  kthomas@pressherald.com

 


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