Thornton Academy 4

Scarborough 4

The Thornton Academy Trojans were staring at a one goal deficit with 1:34 to go in the third period against Scarborough Saturday night when head coach Greg Cloutier called a timeout. He pulled the goalie and set up a play he hoped would tie the game. 10 seconds after play resumed, Chris Stasio netted the equalizer and Thornton and Scarborough skated to a 4-4 tie.

“We made a play,” Cloutier said. “We said ‘OK, this is what we are going to try to do. We said ‘you have to tie it, we can’t leave without any points.’ And the play almost didn’t go right. The right person didn’t get it, but the shot came from where it was supposed to.”

Earlier in the game, the Trojans took the early lead. Just over four minutes into the first period, Stasio took a shot on net and Scarborough goalie Ben Waller kicked it away. But the puck went right to Cam Green’s stick and he buried it for a 1-0 Thornton lead.

Just over two minutes later, the Trojans doubled their lead. Alex Howard took control of the puck right in front of the net and hacked at it. Waller missed it and it was 2-0 in favor of the Trojans.

The Red Storm got on the board late in the period. Hunter Wood skated in front of Thornton goalie Rick Hebb and beat him with a backhanded shot. Brett Leighton picked up the assist on the play.

Despite the deficit, Scarborough head coach Jay Mazur was happy with the way his team played in the early part of the first period.

“If we could play the way we did in the first five minutes of the game and play like that for a full 45, the boys would learn the game would be easier than they make it out to be,” he said. “That’s part of being a young team and learning. But they know they can do it, so we have something to work on for next year.”

Thornton got some breathing room early in the second. Jacob Ouellette found himself in the slot where he was able to settle a loose puck and score on a back-hander just 42 seconds into the period and the Trojans had a 3-1 lead.

The lead wasn’t safe.

Just two minutes after Ouellette scored, Jake Rutt fired a slap shot from the right circle that got by Hebb and the 3-1 lead was now a 3-2 lead. The Storm then tied the game 70 seconds later when Andrew Nigro beat Hebb on the stick side with a well-placed shot.

“We had a 2-0 lead, a 3-1 lead and the kids thought we were going to blow them off the ice,” Cloutier said of his team. “You can’t do that. You have to skate all the way through.”

The third period began with the game knotted at 3-3. That changed when Jim Soules was sent to the box and Thornton went on the power play.

Nigro stole the puck in the Scarborough end and he and Rutt skated away toward the net. Nigro passed across the ice to Rutt who scored the go-ahead goal with just over 11 minutes to play. The short-handed goal and subsequent penalty kill was the third missed power play opportunity for Thornton, which finished with no goals in six power play chances.

“We have a good penalty kill,” Mazur said. “We are pretty good with our unit. I have no problems with it. Like I said to the players, when you take a penalty if I think its a good hit and not retaliation, I’m happy, I don’t see us not killing it.”

As time ticked away, the Trojans got two more power plays in the closing minutes of the third. It wasn’t until the timeout that Thornton could finally get over the hump.

In the extra frame, the Red Storm were called for another penalty for too many men on the ice. But like the previous five, they killed that one off and neither team could find the net again.

A Monday loss to Biddeford left the Red Storm with a record of 6-13-1 as they hope to claim one of the final playoff spots for this year’s tournament. The Trojans fell to Kennebunk on Monday to finish at 11-7-2. They are firmly in the playoffs and will likely see action in the preliminary round.

Copy the Story Link