GORHAM– One of the hardest things to do in hockey is score a hat trick, and a natural hat trick, scoring three straight goals, is an even rarer feat.

On Monday afternoon at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, AJ Gass of the Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach hockey team did just that. In an eight-minute span of the second period, Gass scored three straight goals against Bonny Eagle, turning a 0-0 game into a 3-0 Mustang advantage as Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach went on to a 4-1 win over the Scots.

The win raised Massabesic’s record to 5-8 on the season while Bonny Eagle slips to 3-11. It looks like the Mustangs will be left out of the playoffs this winter as they sit at No. 12 in the Heal Point standings as of Feb. 7 with only the top eight teams getting a postseason berth.

But the Mustangs didn’t play like a team with an expiration date on their season against the Scots Monday. After a scoreless first period where neither team was able to generate much in the way of offense, Gass got the Mustangs going quickly in the second.

Just 1:01 into the period, Gass took the puck just outside the blue line and broke in on Scots’ goalie Garrett McElrath. As the Scot defense closed in, Gass made a nifty move to push the puck through the defense and put a shot just under the crossbar for his first goal of the game. The Mustangs’ Brandon Pfeiffer was credited with an assist on the play.

Gass struck again just about five minutes later, at 6:04 of the second period. This time, he scored on a bang-bang play, as teammate Patrick Wyman flipped the puck in front from the corner and Gass redirected it home to put Massabesic up 2-0.

The natural hat trick was complete just over three minutes later. At 9:06 of the period, Gass took a long pass from Ian Wyman and wheeled through the Bonny Eagle zone and wristed one past McElrath to put the Mustangs up 3-0. Jordan Levesque was credited with the second assist on the goal.

The Scots did manage to make things a bit closer exactly one minute later. Keeping the puck in the Mustang zone, the Scots’ Jason Harmon crossed in front of Mustang goalie Kyle Maclay and put it home to make the score 3-1. Bonny Eagle’s Jared Farwell and Sean Walsh assisted on the goal.

Down 3-1 going into the third, the Scots tried everything they could to cut the Mustang lead, but they couldn’t get any closer than two hit posts from Connor Shields about 90 seconds apart at the beginning of the period.

The Scots put things out of reach at 8:59 of the third as Tom Vigue scored to make it 4-1. Levesque and Wyman were credited with assists on the play.

Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach’s AJ Gass breaks for the puck ahead of Bonny Eagle’s Travis Rogers at USM in Gorham on Monday afternoon. Gass had a natural hat trick in the second period to lead the Mustangs to a 4-1 win. Staff photo by Mike Higgins

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