YARMOUTH — A fired-up Greely girls’ hockey team settled down in time to beat rival Yarmouth/Freeport on Monday night.

The Rangers scored four goals in the first 7:50 of the third period to rally to a 5-3 win at Travis Roy Arena.

“We knew it’s an important game, and our girls were fired up off the bat,” Greely Coach Nate Guerin said. “Sometimes they have to let their nerves settle a little bit.”

In Maine girls’ high school hockey, the ice isn’t resurfaced until after the first two periods, so Guerin had less than two minutes to deliver a calming message after his team fell behind 2-0 in the first period.

“We told the girls to stick to the game plan, be consistent,” Guerin said.

“We pushed really hard and that was constant throughout the game. Once we settled down and got a few bounces, we were in good shape. It was a nice comeback win.”

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The Clippers (3-3) took a 2-0 lead less than 13 minutes into the game on goals by Katie Klemmer and Colleen Sullivan.

“In the first period, we went to the net,” Yarmouth Coach Jeff Haley said.

“We got all of the shots and responded, and then we let them back into the game.”

It took Greely (7-1) more than 27 minutes to score its first goal. Maura Perry made it 2-1 when she slipped a rebound under goalie Hannah Williams’ pads with less than three minutes left in the second period.

“We worked on calming down, playing the puck to the net and crashing the net,” said Ellie Schad, who scored the final two goals for Greely.

“Their goalie was giving up a lot of rebounds. We saw that, but in the first period we just couldn’t get there.”

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Greely took total control of the game in the third period, when it held the Clippers without a shot on goal until the final minute of the game.

“We really focused on defending, being strong on defense, and finishing the pucks at the net,” Schad said.

Danita Storey scored to tie the game less than a minute into the third period.

Four minutes later, freshman Courtney Sullivan finished off a rush by putting in a shot from the top of the slot to give Greely the lead.

Schad scored her two goals 47 seconds apart to put the game out of reach with less than eight minutes left.

“We talked about shooting low and crashing the net, and I think we made it harder on their goalie,” Guerin said. “Our players worked hard all game, and it was just a matter of getting that bounce.”

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Yarmouth’s Jenny Holmquist added a goal with 47 seconds left.

Haley seemed to take the loss in stride.

“As long as the effort is there, I’m not worried about the outcome, right now,” he said. “These girls compete and they know what needs to get done. It’s just a matter of calming them down.”

The two teams will meet again Feb. 19 at The Family Ice Center in Falmouth.


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