AUBURN

Jessica Boulet had a senior night to remember.

Skating in her final game at Norway Savings Bank Arena as a member of the St. Dominic Academy girls’ hockey team, the senior captain netted a pair of goals, the second putting the Saints in front for good in a 5-3 victory over Mt. Ararat on Wednesday.

“It definitely was (special),” Boulet said. “We had a lot of heart. The girls really stepped up because they wanted to do it for themselves and for the seniors with it being our last home game.”

Both of Boulet’s goals broke deadlocks. Her first came just over a minute into the contest to give the Saints a 1-0 lead. Boulet took a feed from Alexa Kesaris from the left circle and buried a shot past Mt. Ararat goaltender Alison Nolan in the slot.

Boulet’s second again put the Saints (7-10) in front, this time a 3-2 lead with 2:20 left. Following back-to-back Eagle penalties, which gave St. Dom’s a brief 5-on-3 advantage, Boulet knocked in a rebound in the waning moments of the power play. Tia Rotolico did the heavy lifting, carrying the puck into the zone before registering a shot on net that came out to Boulet in front.

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“Jess is a true Saint,” St. Dom’s coach Paul Gosselin said. “She really likes to play hard. She especially did it today and she got two goals out of it. It was a good day for her. She played well.”

While the Saints are firmly in the playoffs, the Eagles (2-14-1) came into Wednesday’s contest fighting for their postseason life. It showed as Mt. Ararat scored two unanswered goals to end the first period, both by Mikaila Cloutier.

Cloutier tied the game with 11:09 left in the first on a shot through traffic from the blue line. She gave Mt. Ararat the lead seven minutes later, skating in on net and beating St. Dom’s goaltender Payton Winslow with a shot that deflected off Winslow’s pads before crossing the goal line.

“Probably one of the best games we’ve played all season,” Mt. Ararat coach Ron Hutchins said. “The girls were very cohesive. They were working with each other. They were communicating.”

Rotolico, who assisted on both of Boulet’s goals, netted one of her own to pull St. Dom’s even halfway through the second period.

“We really had a nice rally cry at the end because we knew we really wanted to make the playoffs and that had to happen now,” Boulet said. “I think we brought it.”

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Boulet wasn’t the only senior scoring goals for the Saints. Taylor Bergeron gave St. Dom’s a 4-2 cushion with 6:04 left, a goal that proved to be the difference maker. Bergeron is St. Dom’s backup goalie.

Cloutier cut St. Dom’s lead in half with 2:41 left on the breakaway to record the hat trick.

Hutchins pulled Nolan on the ensuing face-off looking for the equalizer, but Kesaris scored on the empty net to put the game away.

The loss, accompanied with Brunswick’s win over Portland/Deering on Monday, has the teams deadlocked for the sixth and final playoff spot in the East.

The Saints outshot the Eagles 10-5 in the third period and 27-17 for the game.

Nolan made 22 saves for Mt. Ararat. Winslow stopped 14 shots for St. Dom’s.



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