GORHAM — Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Hyde knew a win Wednesday over Windham/Westbrook was likely to cement a playoff berth.
The Eagles came in sitting fifth and the Class A North Heal Points, with Windham/Westbrook two spots behind and out of the playoff picture.
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Hyde got the separation it needed with a 6-1 win. Ian Struck led the way for the Eagles, notching his fourth and final goal just before the end of the second period.
“I think we clinched the playoffs,” said Struck. “But, we’ve got to keep fighting for a higher spot so we can maybe host a playoff game.”
The Eagles started fighting for scoring chances, as Windham/Westbrook limited them to one shot in the opening five minutes while the visitors didn’t surrender a shot. Struck got the break through on a rebound chance, following a Noah Austin shot that snuck behind Windham/Westbrook goaltender Sean White.
Windham/Westbrook nearly responded as Austin White appeared to be in alone on goaltender Sean Moore, but Cade Charron made a diving play to poke the puck off White’s stick.
Hunter Merryman added to the Eagles lead with 1:25 remaining in the period. Merryman was denied on his first attempt to get to the front of the net, but banked the puck off White for a goal.
“Hunter Merryman played on the top line for a while, (but) we tried to spread the scoring out and he did exactly what we asked of him,” said Eagle Coach A.J. Kavanaugh. “It wasn’t the prettiest goal but he got to the net. Things happen when you get to the net and that’s what he did for us.”
The Eagles’ top line of Struck, Austin and Alex Witwicki took over in the second. Struck took a pass from Noah Magda, danced around a defender and made a nice move on White to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead 5:38 into the period.
A little over two minutes later, Austin picked up a loose puck off a faceoff and sent Struck in on a breakaway for another goal. The assist gave the senior Austin 150 points for his career.
“Austin got his 150th career point tonight so that’s pretty impressive, and of course Ian Struck scored the four goals,” said Kavanaugh, “It’s kind of a welcome back for him. He’s been out so it was nice for him to come back and score some goals and get our offense going.”
Struck was unaware the breakaway goal, as it was happening, meant a milestone for his teammate.
“We didn’t really talk about it before the game,” said Struck. “I didn’t actually know until just now. That’s great for him though.”
It didn’t take long for Austin to reach 151 points. Three minutes later, Struck picked up the puck in the neutral zone and finished a 2-on-1 chance by sliding a pass to Austin to put the Eagles up 5-0. The top line added another second-period goal on a late offensive zone faceoff. Witwicki pushed the puck to Struck, who ripped a shot under the glove of White with five seconds remaining.
“We were just clicking,” said Struck. “Our passing and everything was clicking.”
Windham/Westbrook got on the board early in the third period. Anderson Holden slid a pass across the slot to Travis Brown for a one-timer 49 seconds into the period. It was all Moore allowed despite the hosts turning up the pressure in the third period. Moore made seven saves on eight shots in the period, and 11 saves in the game on 12 Windham/Westbrook shots. White stopped 16-of-22 shots on net for Windham/Westbrook.
“The third period we took some penalties and had to kill them off, but overall I’m very happy with the effort,” said Kavanaugh. “Windham is down some players too, but their kids played hard all three periods and Sean their goalie always plays very strong. Our Sean also made some saves when he needed to.”
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Hyde improved to 7-7-1 with the win, while Windham/Westbrook fell to 1-12. The Eagles are in action again today at Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills, with puck drop slated for 6 p.m.
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