Goaltender Jason Barden turned away 27 shots Monday in Scarborough’s 5-2 win over Moses Brown of Rhode Island in the Maine Hockey Invitational Tournament at the Portland Ice Arena.

The Quakers jumped on the board early in the first period when Richard Bache buried the puck in the net, going top shelf just three minutes into the game.

“We got off to a slow start,” said Barden. “We just had no legs in the beginning.”

That didn’t appear to be a problem, as the Red Storm came roaring back when junior Brian York netted the equalizer just over a minute later. Not long after that, Scarborough added another tally as junior Brent Mayo scored unassisted for a 2-1 lead.

Ian Hunter of Moses Brown scored on the power play with just over six minutes to go in the period to tie the score once again. After the first period the score was knotted up at two, and according to Barden, the Red Storm were not playing to their potential.

“Our defense really struggled,” he said, “and we had a hard time getting any shots on goal.”

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The second period got off to a quick start as Scarborough freshman Derek Army scored unassisted early in the period to retake the lead. That goal would turn out to be the gamewinner, as Barden turned away shot after shot and chance after chance.

Junior Jason Quirk added an insurance goal about a minute and a half later to give Scarborough a 4-2 lead.

After two periods the two teams appeared to be evenly matched. There was only a difference of one shot on net, and with a margin of two goals it was still very much a close game.

In the third period the Quakers, who were the Rhode Island state champions in 2004, came out firing. That was when Barden and the Scarborough defense had to step it up. Whenever an opponent skated into the Red Storm end, the defensemen would tighten up and usually turn them away or deflect their shots.

As the time wound down and the Quakers became more desperate to score, they increased their efforts. Barden turned away a number of one-on-one chances.

“In the third period I really had to step it up,” he said, “I just tried to stay focused on my game.”

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Whatever method he used, it worked.

As the seconds ticked away it became clear Moses Brown coach Larry Tremblay would have to try something, and with about two minutes on the clock he decided to pull goalie Nicholas Candelmo to give his team another skater.

But the move backfired with just over one minute to play, as Scarborough junior Kyle Huber got control of the puck and moved in on the empty cage. He fired and rippled the back of the net for what would be the last goal of the game.

Thanks to an all around team effort, the Red Storm got off to a quick start in the tournament.

“I just didn’t want to blow that two-goal lead,” said Barden.

The Red Storm were scheduled to play two more games in the 36-team invitational. The regular season resumes when Scarborough (4-2) hosts top-ranked Cheverus (4-1) on Jan. 4.


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