BIDDEFORD — Yarmouth got off to a sluggish start in its boys’ hockey game Saturday against Kennebunk, but sophomore goalie Dan Latham made sure his team didn’t fall into a big hole.
Latham stopped 18 shots in the first period and finished with 41 saves as the Clippers beat Kennebunk 5-1 to improve to 3-0.
“I just try to make the first save, and then my defense does a great job of clearing the puck out of our zone,” said Latham.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him,” said Yarmouth Coach David St. Pierre. “He was our third-string goalie last year, and he really wanted this role. He worked hard all offseason, and it’s showing. He makes the simple saves very well.”
On Saturday, he made his share of difficult ones, too – including a barrage of shots during a Kennebunk power play in the first period. In the third period, after losing his stick on an initial shot, he made a difficult sliding save on the rebound.
“That’s just his competitiveness,” said St. Pierre. “He’s aggressive when he has to be. One thing I’ve always seen in him, since first seeing him play in the fifth grade, is that he just loves to compete.”
“He’s just playing unbelievably well right now,” said senior Walter Conrad. “All three games for us, he’s had 30-plus saves. He’s been keeping us in games.”
It was Conrad who kick-started the offensive attack for the Clippers. Just over three minutes into the game, the defenseman picked up a bouncing puck just beyond center ice. He settled it on his stick, glided over the blue line and let a shot rip from beyond the right circle. His drive found the back of the net over the goalie’s stick-side shoulder.
“Part of our strategy is to get the puck over the blue and put it on net,” said Conrad. “We just want to get the forecheck going. If the puck goes in on a shot like that, that’s even better.”
The Clippers held their one-goal advantage until 5:15 into the second period. Camden Connor, a junior, blistered a shot off Latham, and sophomore Kyle Beaupre unleashed a one-timer on the rebound for the equalizer.
It took just over a minute for Yarmouth to regain the lead. Conrad cycled a puck to the top of the offensive zone and fellow defenseman Anders Newberg blasted the puck into the top right corner of the net.
“We’re really starting to figure out how to use our defensemen on offense,” said LaPierre. “We passed the puck back to them well tonight and got some good looks. That was a huge lift.”
Early in the third, Tyler Veilleux sent a crisp pass to Bill Jacobs, who unloaded a one-time slap shot toward the net. Conrad redirected the puck for a 3-1 lead.
Chris Romano scored the fourth goal by stealing a bouncing puck from a Kennebunk defender and finishing his breakaway with a wrister.
Yarmouth’s final goal with just under six minutes to go came when Joe Truesdale sent a shot on net that rebounded to the waiting stick of Noah Grondin.
“We started kind of slow tonight,” said Conrad. “We went to another level between the first and second, and knew if we could do that again in the third we’d make coming back really tough on them.”
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