BRUNSWICK

Two ice hockey teams represented five high schools in a varsity matchup at Bowdoin College’s Sidney J. Watson Arena. Welcome to co-op hockey!

The Eagles, representing Mt. Ararat and Lisbon, prevailed against the Ice Cats from Lake Region, Fryeburg Academy and Oxford Hills, 5-1, improving to 1-1 on the season, while the visitors dropped to 0-2.

After getting shutout by Skowhegan/Lawrence in their opener, the Eagles scored just 2:47 in as Kyle Lussier tallied from a sharp angle past Ice Cats starting goaltender David Long.

“This was a good win for us, and just nice to see us put some pucks in the net,” said Lussier, whose teammate Ben Bishop scored his first of two goals with 3:54 remaining in the opening frame for a 2-0 edge through 15 minutes. “Tonight we had our confidence going, and we were able to put our passes tape-to-tape and get a good win.”

“Confidence is everything, especially with kids, and getting that early confidence allowed the kids to get into the open ice and make some good passes,” said Mt. Ararat/Lisbon assistant coach John Grant, whose Eagles visit Windham on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. “We noticed some of their weaknesses in that first period. We knew they were going to continue to work hard, so we had to capitalize in getting to the open ice and getting some more goals.”

Strong second

The Eagles kept coming in the second period, scoring a pair of goals just 1:45 apart to double their lead. Tyler O’Connor slapped a shot past Long on the power play at 4:07, and Bru Abreu made it a 4-0 game at 5:32.

Long, who stopped 10 of the 14 shots he faced, was relieved by Trent Spaulding between the pipes, and Spaulding was tested immediately as the Eagles finished with an 11-5 shots advantage in the second period after the Ice Cats held a 9-7 edge in the opening frame.

“We got outshot the first period, but had the 2-0 lead and just needed to outwork them and get some more goals to keep that confidence up,” said Lussier.

Eagles goaltender Kyle Welsh was on his game, turning aside a breakaway by Travis Townsend late in the second period to preserve his shutout, and he made a glove save on a slapshot by Noah Smith early in the third.

Spaulding kept the Ice Cats four goals back as he stopped the first 10 shots he saw in the final frame, including a post-to-post save on a chance by Sean Bolduc.

The Ice Cats slipped their goal past Welsh with 2:35 remaining as Townsend took a lead pass from Kaleb Currier just after an Eagles power play had ended, sliding a backhand into the cage.

Mt. Ararat/Lisbon answered 23 seconds later as Bishop scored off a rebound of O’Connor’s shot to complete the 5-1 win.

Lussier, Bru Abreu and O’Connor each had a goal and an assist, while Mark Abreu picked up two assists and Andrew Gardiner contributed one helper.

Spaulding had 14 saves on 15 shots as Mt. Ararat/Lisbon finished with a 29-23 shots advantage. Welsh had 22 stops in the win.

Eagles 5, Ice Cats 1

At		Sidney			J.	Watson				Arena
Ice			Cats	—	0	0	1		—	1
Eagles				—	2	2	1		—	5

First period: 1. (E) Kyle Lussier (Mark Abreu), 2:47; 2. (E) Ben Bishop (Bru Abreu), 11:06. Penalties: (E) Ben Bishop, roughing, 8:32; (E) Nate Harley, tripping, 11:22. Second period: 3. (E) Tyler O’Connor, pp, 4:07; 4. (E) Bru Abreu (Kyle Lussier), 5:42. Penalties: (IC) Noah Smith, hooking, 2:35; (E) Ryley Austin, tripping, 6:14; (E) Steven Schuman, hit from behind, 10-minute misconduct, 11:21. Third period: 5. (IC) Travis Townsend (Kaleb Currier, Davis Turner), 12:25; 6. (E) Ben Bishop (Tyler O’Connor, Mark Abreu), 12:48. Penalties: (IC) Dakota Russo, hooking, 10:21; (E) Sean Bolduc, interference, 13:26; (E) Ryley Austin, cross checking, 14:26. Shots on goal — (IC) 9-5-9-23; (E) 7-11-11-29. Saves — (IC) David Long 10, Trent Spaulding 14; (E) Kyle Welsh 22. Power-play opportunities — Ice Cats 0-5; Eagles 1-2. Records — Eagles 1-1, Ice Cats 0-2. Up next for Mt. Ararat — Saturday at Windham, 4:10 p.m.