FALMOUTH — Picking up where it left off last Saturday night, second-seeded Falmouth cruised to a 5-0 win against No. 4 Biddeford in a Western Maine semifinal at the Family Ice Center on Friday night.

The Yachtsmen (14-5) will play the winner of Saturday night’s Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete-Scarborough game for the regional title Wednesday night at the Portland Ice Arena.

Last Saturday night, Falmouth peppered Cassie Ellis with 54 shots to skate to a 4-1 win over the Tigers at the Biddeford Ice Arena.

The Yachtsmen were much more selective this time but the result was the same.

“We had the week off from games so that gave us time to work on a little conditioning stuff and get ready,” Falmouth Coach Rob Carrier said.

“We had a week of really good practices leading into the game, so we really focused on what we did well the last time we played them. We tried to get good shots on net and work the rebounds in front, and protect the front of our net as best we could.”

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Sarah Hutcheon scored three goals for Falmouth.

“We got a lot more quality shots off rather than just shooting at the net,”  Hutcheon said.

“We focused on quality shots and rebounds,” Carrier said.

It was Falmouth’s third win of the season against the Tigers (13-7). On Dec. 30, the Yachtsmen pulled out a 3-2 victory in overtime at Family Ice.

“We knew they had to win to keep going (in the tournament) and they were determined to beat us after the last time we played them,” said Hutcheon.

“We knew they were going to come out really hard.”

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The Yachtsmen dictated the tempo from the outset and held a 28-6 edge in shots on goal.

“Any time you can dictate the pace of play you like it, whether you play a team a lot or just the week before,” Carrier said. “In both games we really dominated in front. We had a nice shots advantage in both games.”

Falmouth took a 2-0 lead in the first period when Hutcheon scored her first two goals less than a minute apart.

At 6:14, she swept in a shot from near the left hashmark after receiving Lucy Meyer’s pass from behind the left side of the goal.

At 7:09 she slipped the puck inside the left post.

“We went in with a game plan that was a little different from what we normally do,” Biddeford Coach Ashley Potvin said. “We knew it was a high-stakes game so we were willing to take a risk in order to get the job done.”

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Ellis did everything she could to keep the Tigers in the game.

“The last stretch of games she’s come out and done a phenomenal job in net for us,” said Potvin.

Hutchinson completed the first hat trick of her varsity career less than three minutes into the third period when she lifted a shot from the slot past Ellis.

Caroline Proctor and Evie Clement added goals for Falmouth.

This story was updated Feb. 14, at 5:45 p.m. to correct the spelling of Sarah Hutcheon’s last name.


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