YARMOUTH — Fourth-seeded Yarmouth used depth to its advantage Thursday night and rolled to an 8-1 win against No. 5 Saint Dominic in an Eastern Maine girls’ hockey tournament quarterfinal at Travis Roy Arena.
The Clippers (11-7-1) controlled play for much of the game to sail into a regional semifinal against top-seeded Lewiston at 8:20 p.m. Monday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
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The Clippers, made up of players from Yarmouth, Freeport and Gray-New Gloucester high schools, defeated the Saints for the third time this season.
On Jan. 21, the Clippers skated to a 3-0 win over the Saints at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. On Dec. 23, they cruised to a 6-1 win against St. Dom’s on their home ice in Yarmouth.
“The last time we played them we seemed to run around a little bit too much and didn’t move the puck,” Yarmouth Coach Jeff Haley said. “Tonight we changed that. We had to make sure we got the momentum early and we did.”
“Any time we could contain them in the own defensive zone and not let them change (lines) was a plus for us,” Haley said. “If you can move the puck and get to where you need to be, you can wear teams down, and that was our goal.”
The Saints, who returned to varsity competition this season after competing at the junior varsity level last season, dressed just 10 skaters for the game.
“In actuality, we only played with seven (skaters) because we have three who don’t really skate. They’re first-year players” St. Dom’s Coach Paul Gosselin said. “It may look like were playing with 10 players but it’s actually seven.”
The Clippers alternated 14 different skaters in front of goalie Hannah Williams.
“We absolutely wanted to move the puck,” Haley said. “I keep telling the girls time and time again one quick pass will beat two players, so we don’t have to run around and get tired, knowing we had an advantage (in depth).”
Emilie Johnson scored twice during the first period to stake the Clippers to a 2-0 lead. They built an 8-0 lead before sophomore forward Alexis Kesaris slipped a backhander past Williams with two minutes left in the game.
“Yarmouth played really well,” Gosselin said. “They were on the puck aggressively and it paid off. They just had more juice tonight than we did, and that was the difference.”
Keeley Arnold scored two goals and had an assist for the Clippers, who held a 46-5 edge in shots. Michelle Robichaud, Kate Brown and Colleen Sullivan each collected a goal and two assists. Katie Clemmer scored a goal, and Jenny Holmquist had an assist.
Freshman goalie Payton Winslow made 38 saves for the Saints (7-12).
“She was making the first save, which was her job,” Gosselin said. “The rebounds are the responsibility of our defensemen and we were getting beat to the puck.”
Lewiston (17-0-1) beat the Clippers twice during the regular season. On Dec. 17, the Blue Devils rolled to a 7-0 win at the Colisee. On Jan. 24, they pulled out a 5-3 win at Travis Roy Arena.
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