Westbrook 5

Massabesic/OOB 0

Zach Souza scored two goals for Westbrook and the Blazes outshot the Massabesic/OOB Seastangs 34-15 on the way to a 5-0 win Saturday at the USM Ice Arena in Gorham. Zach Johnson, Tyler Rand and Shayne Nealey also scored for the Blazes.

The Blazes wasted little time getting on the board in the first period when Rand fed the puck to Johnson from behind the Seastang net. Johnson then flipped the puck over the glove of Jeremy Corthell for a 1-0 Westbrook lead.

Later in the period, both teams incurred their first penalties of the day. Steve Drown was called for a penalty for the Seastangs but the power play was negated when Rand was whistled just over a minute later. That gave Massabesic/OOB a power play opportunity, but they were unable to cash in. After one period, it was still 1-0 with the shots tied at six apiece.

“I think in the first period we came out a little flat,” said Westbrook coach Travis Jalbert. “We weren’t skating or winning loose pucks. That’s what we changed in the second and third. I told the guys to get after it and win the loose pucks. When we did that, it created opportunities for us.”

Just 41 seconds into the second period, the Blue Blazes doubled their lead when Justin Dube fired a long pass to Rand who then faked a shot and scored on a backhander.

The Seastangs were still fighting and nearly cut the deficit in half when Westbrook goalie Dane Tupper made the save of the game. Tupper deflected a shot off his stick and the puck ricocheted up in the air toward the net. Tupper saw it and snagged it with his glove before it could cross the goal line to preserve the shutout.

Late in the second, the Blazes scored two more goals less than two minutes apart. With 5:52 to go in the period, Nealey fired a one-timer past Corthell to give Westbrook a 3-0 lead. Then with 4:10 left in the second, Souza recorded his first goal of the day with a hard shot from the blue line.

“Its great to see it spread out a little bit because in the preseason most of our contributions came form our first line,” Jalbert said. “We counted on them to score so its nice to see the second and third line chip in. The only thing I expect from my third line is hustle and if they do we’ll score a few goals but if they keep the other team off the scoreboard I’m happy.”

The Seastangs got another power play opportunity late in the second but once again could not get the puck past Tupper.

Westbrook dominated the third period. They scored their fifth goal of the game but also out shot the Seastangs 12-1 over the final 15 minutes. The final goal of the day came when Souza stuffed a rebound into the corner of the net.

“In the third period we played good defensively and just buckled down and worked the fore check,” Jalbert said. “That’s something we emphasized. Getting good fore check helps out defense so if we take care of things in the offensive zone it makes it a lot easier on the defense and Dane. Dane had a solid game; he played well. I didn’t even know we let up just one shot but that’s a great stat. I’m happy to see that.”

With the win the Blazes begin their season 1-0. They were scheduled to take on Mt. Ararat on Monday.

The Seastangs will start the year in a 0-1 hole but were scheduled to take on Maranacook on Monday as they look for win number one.

“The kids played a great game,” said Seastangs coach Dave Pasquarello. “They worked hard and they have improved so much since the first time we hit the ice. It was just against a tough opponent tonight. Westbrook is a tier two team and we’re a tier three team and we held our own. We’re proud of the kids.”