SACO — Biddeford continued its impressive late-season run on Saturday, as the Tigers beat Scarborough, the top-ranked team in Western Class A, 4-1 in a boys hockey clash at MHG Ice Centre.
It was the second time in a month that the Tigers beat a top team, after beating Eastern Maine contender Lewiston on Jan. 25 ”“ also on the road.
The equation for success was the same in both big wins, as the Tigers took an early lead, and then built on it.
After a scoreless first period, Biddeford freshman Ricky Ruck scored twice in a span of 11 seconds early in the second.
The opening goal came with the Tigers on a penalty kill, but that didn’t stop Ruck from showing off his skills.
“It was a beautiful read,” said Biddeford head coach Rich Reissfelder. “He had just jumped out, and read the play beautifully, took the puck in and kind of walked in alone on it.”
Ruck scored again 11 seconds later as he sent a rebound of a Brady Crepeau shot past Scarborough goalie Alex Cherry.
“That was nice. It just gives you that momentum,” said Reissfelder.
Kerry Crepeau extended the lead to 3-0 six minutes later, but the Red Storm countered with a power play goal by Matt Henderson 50 seconds after that.
Reissfelder said his team did a good job shrugging off the Scarborough goal, and he told his players “to keep doing what you’re doing.”
Brady Crepeau did just that two minutes into the third, as he scored on the power play to round out the scoring. Evan Loignon picked up his second assist of the game on the goal.
“As far as game plan, it was mostly just sticking to what we do well: Just get the puck deep in the zone and stick with our systems,” said Reissfelder. “It definitely worked.
“The score was a little bit misleading. They had at least three breakaways. They created some nice opportunities. Jake Gross is a heck of a player, as is Cam Loiselle. They both, using their speed, created some opportunities. So even though it was 4-1 on the scoreboard, I thought it was a much closer game than that.”
Brandon Daigle stopped 28 of 29 shots in net for Biddeford, with Reissfelder calling his performance “unbelievable.”
Reissfelder said his team has turned a corner in how it fares against the state’s best team, as wins against the Red Storm and Blue Devils can attest.
“We’ve always come close, in the last couple of years, and fallen short in these types of games. And this year we’re finding a way to win them,” said Reissfelder. “I still think Scarborough is the top team in the West, and I think Lewiston is the top in East, and the fact that we beat them both gives us great confidence going forward.”
Biddeford was scheduled to play a make-up game against Cheverus this morning at 10 a.m., then finishes up its regular season on Wednesday against Portland/Deering.
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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