YARMOUTH

A Yarmouth goal just 16 seconds into Saturday’s boys hockey battle against Brunswick set the tone for the Clippers, but a spell of penalties in the second period ultimately proved to be the difference.

After Jacob Doring and the Dragons equalized at the 7:18 mark of the middle frame, a two-minute charging and five-minute major penalty in quick succession gave the home side a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Clippers took advantage, scoring less than a minute after the major, and went on to secure the high school tilt, 4-1.

“I kind of expected them to come out hard in the first,” Brunswick coach Bill Bodwell said. “And they did. So I was pretty happy when we withstood that for the most part. Then when we tied it up, we thought we were where we needed to be. But then we got 11 minutes of penalties and that killed us.”

After Yarmouth (12-3) started the second period with four straight shots on goalie Riley Kirk, Brunswick (8-7-1) survived a second Clippers power play before Doring positioned himself in front of the net and punched in a rebound three minutes later to even the score at one.

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“Our coaches really got us going in the locker room, and then everything just started falling into place,” Doring said. That penalty really killed us at the end.”

Soon after came the Nate Granholm charging penalty and the decisive Jacob Towle five-minute major for boarding. The Dragons were frantically guarding the net in front of Kirk before Walter Conrad slid a pass across the face of the goal to Patrick Grant, who tapped it in and took the lead right back for Yarmouth.

With 2:17 to go in the period, Max Burtis was sent to the penalty box for head contact and Brunswick found itself on its heels again.

“If you play 11 minutes of a 15-minute period a man down, you’re just not going to win,” Bodwell said.

Kirk saved 21 of Yarmouth’s 25 shots on the night, but the hosts bested him again in the third period. After Dan Latham and his defense fended off three straight shots from Brunswick, the Clippers took back control and reeled off five straight on Kirk before their third goal. Sam Marjerlson stood in front of the net and finished a rebound with just under six minutes left in the game.

“Obviously that next goal was huge,” Bodwell said. “Either we were going to tie it or they were going to take a 3-1 lead. They made it a 3-1 lead and we kind of got deflated at that point.”

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“They were getting shots to the net when we weren’t,” Doring said. “They were playing the body really well tonight.”

Just under two minutes later, Cooper May gathered a pass from Grant behind the net and shot it by Kirk to make it 4-1.

Brunswick finished with seven penalties to Yarmouth’s three. The Dragons put 19 shots on net, with Latham saving all but one.

The Clippers’ first goal of the game, at the 14:34 mark, came when Conrad tapped in a close-range chance on the right side of goal.

Yarmouth is now alone atop the Class B South Standings, with Brunswick sitting fourth. The Dragons will host fifth-place Gorham at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Sidney J. Watson arena.

“The great thing about our division is we have a chance to win every game, and we have an equal chance to not win every game. So we’ve just got to show up, play a little smarter, and continue to work hard. Hope we get some breaks.”

Yarmouth 4,
Brunswick 1

At Travis Roy Arena
Brunswick—010—1
Yarmouth— 112—4
First period — (Y) Walter Conrad
(Patrick Grant), 14:34. Penalties —
(Y) Cooper May, slashing, 8:59; (B)
Max Burtis, tripping, 3:36.
Second Period — (B) Jacob Doring,
7:18; (Y) Patrick Grant (Walter Conrad), 4:51. Penalties — (B) Riley Kirk,
tripping, 10:40; (B) Nate Granholm,
charging, 6:02; (B) Jacob Towle,
boarding major, 5:16; (Y) Sam Marjerlson, cross-checking, :02.
Third Period — (Y) Patrick Grant
(Chris Romand), 5:58; (Y) Cooper
May (Patrick Grant), 4:18. Penalties
— (Y) Anders Newberg, head contact, 9:41; (B) Jared Hummer, holding, 9:22: (B) Jacob Towle, check
from behind, 0:00.
Shots on goal — (B) 5-4-10 — 19;
(Y) 5-10-10 — 25.
Saves — (B) Riley Kirk 21; (Y) Dan
Latham 18.
Power play — (B) 0-for-3; (Y) 1-for-
7.
Records — Yarmouth 12-3,
Brunswick 8-7-1.
Up next for the Dragons — Friday at
home against Gorham, 5:30 p.m.



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