Nate Jewell and Travis Dunn gave Bonny Eagle hockey a powerful 1-2 scoring punch, while goalkeeper Cody Bradway and a tight defense came up big in the third period as the Scots came away with a 10-6 win Saturday over South Portland.

“I can’t say anything, because I don’t want to jinx it,” joked defenseman Brett Dostie after the game, his team improving to 2-0.

But there is really nothing to jinx here. The Scots are simply off and running, playing sound team hockey.

“We’re off to a good start,” Dostie said. “Everybody works well together. Everybody has fun playing together.”

Jewell and Dunn scored four goals each in the win. But it was Bradway and the penalty-killing crew that preserved the victory, holding off the Red Riots in the third period, despite being a man short – and for a spell two men short – down the stretch.

With the loss, South Portland fell to 1-2, heading into Tuesday’s game at home against Gray-New Gloucester.

Coach Bart Keinath’s squad had rebounded from a 7-1 season-opening loss to York with a 9-1 win over Massabesic. But the loss to the Scots at home put the team back on its heels.

“Right now we aren’t where I had hoped we’d be,” said Keinarth. “I thought the guys hustled and tried hard, but they just did not play smart hockey.

The South Portland coach passed some of the credit on to the Scots.

“Their goalie really stood on his head,” he said. “But we didn’t shoot enough either. I think we were looking for the perfect shot. When you’re up five-on-three, you have to shoot more than we did.”

The Riots are built around a pair of strong goalies – Matt Michaud and Amanda Texeira – but with a roster of only 15 players, South Portland suffered in the final period.

“The future looks bright, but our freshmen and sophomores are thrown into the mix, kind of baptism by fire,” said Keinarth, who spelled out the path for his young team. “Now we have to hammer home some of the basics.”

South Portland scored first when senior Jason Battle found the net 21 seconds into the game. But Travis Dunn answered on a power play goal a couple of minutes later, assists going to Jewell and Alyssa Dunn.

Joe Mendes gave Bonny Eagle its first lead with a goal less than a minute later.

South Portland’s Tim Clark, a headache for the Scots all evening, tied the game at 2-2, then raced with the puck from half ice on an unassisted goal to regain the lead for his team in the opening period. Jewell evened it up again, 3-3, just before the end of the first.

The second period belonged to Bonny Eagle and Travis Dunn. The freshman forward scored three times in that frame to roll away from the hosts. Nicholas Griffin scored one for South Portland, but Adam Childs and Jewell also added goals for the Scots, giving them an 8-4 lead two thirds the way through.

Jewell took a pass from Childs and scored to start the final period, but then South Portland had their chances with power plays and couldn’t produce. Instead Jewell answered with his fourth goal of the game.

South Portland closed out with goals by Battle and Clark, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Bonny Eagle lead.

“This was a nice game for us,” said Bonny Eagle coach David Petterson. “The fact that we kept coming back when they kept scoring early on in the game made a huge difference. In the past that hasn’t been a real trademark of ours. And during the third period, we played most of it shorthanded. But the kids held it together well for us.

“We know (the Red Riots) have a couple of players who can really zing you,” he added. “I would have loved to have played more players, but that team can come back on you. We had to keep our best speed out there the whole game.”

Petterson also said a key was his team’s coverage in their own end of the rink.

“If we keep doing that,” he said, “we’ll start cutting the shots the other teams get in half.”

That would keep some of the pressure off the experienced Bradway, who made 27 saves in Saturday’s game. South Portland’s Michaud and Texeira split time and combined for 20 saves.

Bonny Eagle opened the season with a 10-2 win over Sanford. Jewell had three goals in that game. Kayle Hamilton scored four in that win, while Travis Dunn pitched in a goal and three assists.

After playing Wednesday at USM against Marshwood, the Scots come back after Christmas break to play Jan. 4 at Lawrence.

South Portland plays next Jan. 4 at Kennebunk.