The Westbrook Blue Blazes kept pace with the Gorham Rams in the early going at USM on Friday afternoon, but near the end of the first, Gorham’s Matt Hooker edged his squad ahead, and for good. The Rams added four more in the second to escape Westbrook’s grasp, and eventually claimed a 7-1 W.

“I expected us to play well,” said Gorham head coach Jon Portwine. “I expected us to play to our tempo; we had a few good games over the holiday, and I wanted to play at our speed. I don’t think we came out at our speed in the first period. The second period was definitely what I was looking for.”

Gorham got on the board first, and wasted no time doing so: Less than three minutes in, a scramble out front of Blazes keeper Alex LeBlanc generated a flurry of Rams shots, one of which – by Mat Anderson – finally slipped in. 1-0.

Two and a half minutes later, Westbrook appeared to tie things up on a powerplay, but officials waved off the goal. So the Blazes regrouped, and in another 30 seconds secured the point. Dylan Francoeur picked up an Anthony Morrison puck between the Gorham hashmarks and beat freshman goalie Brogan McDonald for 1-1.

The Rams jumped back on top near the end of the period, though. Carl Bear on the attack fed to defenseman Matt Hooker, who ripped a wrister from the point; teammate Michael Chapin effectively screened LeBlanc and the puck sidled between him and the post. 2-1.

Portwine was satisfied with his boys’ work on defense as well.

“I thought it was good, after the first period,” he said. “The boys did a good job holding the blue line. At first, they were trying to jump into the play too much, trying to do a little too much. When they backed off and just started worrying about doing a defenseman’s job, they were a lot better off. It helped that our forecheck was working well, that our forwards were skating hard.”

Gorham emerged in the second on fire and seized complete control of the ice, bombarding LeBlanc with shots. To his immense credit, he stood strong through it all – until, anyway, his teammates seemed to break the Rams’ deathgrip on the action.

Roughly eight minutes in, the Blazes finally managed to clear, ending an extended Gorham attack, but before the Westbrook breakout could reach the Rams’ zone – before the Blazes could nab any significant momentum – Gorham stole the puck back and turned the play around.

LeBlanc blocked Hooker’s initial shot, from the left side, with his pad, but the puck bounced hard right, directly onto the waiting stick of Adam Peterson, who yanked the trigger on a quick rebound. LeBlanc dove, but simply had too far to go, and couldn’t reach to make the save. 3-1.

Before the second expired, Carl Bear added a Rams pair, both assisted by Travis Mansir, for 5-1. With maybe two minutes remaining before the break, Anderson made it 6-1 on a two-on-one with Carter Landry.

“I just reminded them that we weren’t playing to our ability,” Portwine said of his speech to his boys before the second period kicked off. “We were playing down. We’ve got to win races to the puck…Certainly, controlling the offensive zone was something that I wanted them to do. We started to move the puck a little bit better.”

Westbrook redoubled their defensive efforts in the third and held Gorham largely silent. Alas, with just 24 seconds to play, Bear notched his third of the day, a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that just trickled behind LeBlanc for 7-1, the final.

“We were kind of hamstrung by penalties (in the third period),” Portwine said. “But even on the penalty-kill, we did a good job.”

As for the rest of the season, the Rams have much look forward to.

“We’re in a good spot, I think; 5-1,” Portwine said. “We’ve got a ways to go, a lot of things to work on. There’s not a whole lot of depth that we have, so that’s something we’re trying to work on. Trying to get guys more experience. Today was a good opportunity for me to get some of those younger guys a little bit more time than they would in a tight game.”

Among Portwine’s younger players are both of his goalies: McDonald – again, just a freshman – and sophomore Noah Bird.

“They’re both playing really well,” Portwine said. “The sophomore carried most of the (work) before Christmas; the freshman got a chance over Christmas. He played really well; we played Tewksbury, Mass. So, rewarded him today. I think over the next few games, it will go back and forth; we’ve got kind of an easier stretch in our schedule. To be honest, both of them give me a chance to win.

“Coming into this year, I knew it was going to be a lot different than having a three-year, All-State First Team goalie,” Portwine said, referring to recent Gorham graduate and between-the-pipes stalwart Justin Broy. “But these guys have done a nice job. They’ve responded. Experience was something I was worried about, but by the time we get toward playoffs, they’ll be full-fledged varsity players.”

Gorham picked up another win the following day, Saturday, when they hosted Gardiner. That 6-0 victory means the Rams are now 6-1; they occupy the third slot in B West, just behind Kennebunk, but well ahead of Cape Elizabeth. Their next bout is on Thursday the 8th, when they host Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach/Bonny Eagle. They then have five days off before clashing with Scarborough.

Westbrook next met Poland/Gray-New Gloucester/Oak Hill on Wednesday the 7th, after Current Publishing’s print deadline. The Blazes face South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete on Saturday the 10^th.

Gorham’s Willy Baxter harangues Westbrook’s Dylan Francoeur in open-ice.Gorham’s Mat Anderson rips a shot past Westbrook’s Alex LeBlanc.Westbrook’s John Tibbetts and Gorham’s Jordan Ward clash low in the zone.The Rams’ Carter Landry loses his edge under heavy pressure from an airborne Blue Blazes defender.