Gorham’s Lucas Roop notched an early goal against visiting Maranacook/Winthrop on Saturday, Dec. 19, the only goal the Rams would really need: M/W is a struggling outfit, and couldn’t manage a single point against the reigning B South champs. 10-0 Gorham in the end.

Rams head coach John Portwine was pleased overall. “I think the foundation of a good team was instilled tonight,” he said.

Gorham’s first goal of the night nearly belonged to Adam Peterson, who picked up a breakaway just a handful of seconds into the opening period. He hit the post with his shot, though, leaving Roop to pick up the successful rebound from the right side. 1-0.

The Rams added just one more goal through the first 15 minutes, a Jack Richards goal assisted by Dylan Weeks.

Portwine actually wasn’t happy at all with his boys’ first-period effort. “We didn’t play well at all in the first period. Very selfish; we weren’t skating hard, we weren’t doing the little things…You never stop skating, you never take things for granted. If you’re a good player, that’s great, but your job is to make the two guys you’re playing with even better, or your defensive partner even better.”

In the second and third periods, Gorham picked up the pace. Peterson assisted Jack Niles on the 3-0 point and Weeks assisted Jake Bear on 4-0. Peterson made it 5-0 late in the second (assisted by Roop and Richards), and Tanner Garand made it 6-0 (Jordan Gaudreau, Willy Baxter) in the final minutes.

Portwine applauded his boys for shooting more and better. “We shot the puck; the first three games, we’ve been tentative to shoot the puck. Tonight, we got the puck off our sticks pretty quickly.”

Five minutes into the third, Peterson earned his second, unassisted on a shorthanded breakaway. Gaudreau assisted Garand again 42 seconds later for 8-0. Carl Bear picked up the 9-0 notch on a feed from Roop and Ben Eichner, and Peterson capped the scoring, and earned his hat trick, as time wound down, punching home the Rams’ 10th goal with 2:18 remaining (assists to Baxter and Jake Bear).

“The second two periods,” Portwine said, “the way the guys played, the way they shared the puck, the way they moved the puck, just the feeling on the bench was totally different. Everybody was involved, everybody was engaged; it wasn’t about me, me, me. It was about the team, and what we were doing well and what we weren’t doing well.”

The Rams go to 2-2 on the season. The young team (they sport just two seniors) opened their schedule with a pair of losses, 7-1 to Biddeford and 4-1 to Yarmouth, before finally picking up their first W, 3-0 over Gardiner.

Maranacook/Winthrop falls to 0-4 in 2015-16.

Gorham’s next matchup will undoubtedly be more of a battle: The Rams travel to Waterville on Tuesday the 22nd. The Panthers are 4-0 and No. 1 in B North at present, having outscored their opponents 32-9.

Gorham’s Jack Niles cuts through the corner alongside a Hawks’ opponent.Gorham senior Carl Bear slides inside, closer to the Hawks’ net.Ben Eichner gets away from a Hawks defender.Gorham goalie Noah Bird tracks the action.

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