Yarmouth/Freeport’s Lilly Weinrich skates with puck past a Winslow/Gardiner/Cony defender during Wednesday’s quarterfinal action in girls hockey at Travis Roy Arena in Yarmouth. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
YARMOUTH — Olivia Bradford scored a pair of goals and Allie Perrotta turned away 13 shots in net as Yarmouth/Freeport downed Winslow/Gardiner/Cony, 5-2 in North girls hockey quarterfinal action at Travis Roy Arena on Wednesday.
The Clippers will face No. 1 Lewiston on Saturday (4:15 p.m.) at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. The Black Tigers ended their season at 8-10-1.
The two teams split during the regular season, including a 3-2 win for the Black Raiders on Saturday in Yarmouth.
“We knew their tendencies and what to expect, we’ve had close games with them this year,” Clippers coach Megan Vaughn said.
“This was the matchup we wanted, we just didn’t have it tonight,” Black Tigers coach Alan Veilleux said. “(Yarmouth/Freeport) played a good game, we just ended up on the short end.”
The visitors grabbed the momentum early, striking first when Kaitlin Fecteau took a Katie Bailey pass and beat Perrotta for the first score of the game, just 1:37 into it.
“We picked up some momentum with that first goal, it’s what we were trying to do,” Veilleux said.
Trailing 1-0 out of the gate, the Clippers didn’t panic.
“After that first goal, we were kind of like ‘we need to score some goals’ and get on the board, it kind of motivated us you would say,” Bradford said.
The lead held until the midway point of the frame when Yarmouth/Freeport’s Hannah Swift fed Margaret Perrotta for the equalizer.
Black Tigers goalie Gabby Chambers (eight saves) kept the score tied with a couple of more saves, but with 4:13 remaining on the clock, Bradford scooped up a loose puck off a Lydia Guay shot and hit the back of the net for a 2-1 lead.
“It was a team effort to get the puck on the net,” Bradford said. “After the shot, I saw the puck just sitting there and wanted to get it in.”
The home team carried the one-goal lead into the first intermission as each team recorded five shots apiece.
Double it
It didn’t take long for the Clippers to extend their lead to two in the second period. Once again, Bradford found herself in the middle of the action, taking a pass in front of the net from Emma Moll and blasting it past Chambers for the score.
Whether it was good positioning or in the right place at the right time, Vaughn liked the result.
“It’s probably a little of both,” the coach said. “She works hard out there and she has good awareness on the ice. She’s a freshman, so we’re looking forward to seeing what’s to come down the road.”
Allie Perrotta kept the Black Tigers off the board in the period, turning away all three shots she faced.
“Allie’s been big for us all year,” Vaughn said.
“We wanted to put shots on their goalie and we did, but she came up big for them tonight,” Veilleux added.
Winslow/Gardiner/Cony’s Gabby Benson skates down the ice in front of a Yarmouth/Freeport defender in Wednesday’s girls North quarterfinal matchup at Travis Roy Arena in Yarmouth. The Clippers advanced with a 5-2 win. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
The teams traded goals nine minutes into the third period. After Yarmouth/Freeport’s Lilly Weinrich scored off a Kyaira Grondin helper, Black Raiders forward Julia Hinkley wrist shot just nine seconds later beat the Clippers goalie for the score.
Moll tallied an unassisted goal minutes later to push the lead back to three goals, taking the wind out of Winslow/Gardiner/Cony’s sails.
“Hats off to them, they came to play. It’s disappointing for our seniors, but we told them that’s how it goes sometimes,” Veilleux said.
For Yarmouth/Freeport, a date with top-ranked Lewiston is no small task. The Clippers hung with the Blue Devils for a period, before Lewiston put 10 goals in the net for a 10-0 shutout earlier in the season.
“If we can keep the intensity we had with them early in the game, we should be able to compete,” Vaughn added.
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