PORTLAND—Scarborough’s boys’ hockey team has faced its share of adversity so far this winter, but when the Red Storm have everything clicking, they’re as good as anyone.
One year after barely playing at all last year due to COVID, the Red Storm have already been on a COVID pause this winter, but Scarborough has focused on getting the job done on the ice and Monday afternoon at Troubh Ice Arena, the Red Storm shook off a loss to Greely Saturday evening by leading host Portland/Deering nearly from the start.
Scarborough struck three times in the first period, as senior Sam Rumelhart sandwiched goals around a strike from sophomore Olin Pedersen.
The Red Storm didn’t relent in the second period either, as Rumelhart completed his hat trick before Billy Mahoney scored on the power play. Rumelhart then scored for the fourth time before Wyatt Grondin’s power play made it 7-0 heading to the third period.
There, with a mercy rule running clock, Scarborough didn’t score again and while Portland/Deering got a late goal from junior Nick Walsh, that would be it and the Red Storm closed out an emphatic 7-1 victory.
Four different players tickled the twine as Scarborough improved to 6-4 and in the process, dropped Portland/Deering to 0-7.
“I’m happy with how we responded after a tough game,”said first-year Red Storm coach Eric Wirsing. “I’m really proud of the boys for coming back together and putting in a solid effort. Having that time off took away from our momentum. The guys had a lot of energy when they had came back. The boys are happy to back on the ice and be back together.”
Never in doubt
The last time boys’ hockey played a full season, two years ago, Scarborough was a double-overtime loss to Lewiston away from a state championship. After a very short 2021 campaign, the Red Storm are back with high hopes this season and despite multiple postponements, they have showed positive signs.
Scarborough started with home victories over St. Dom’s (5-1) and Cheverus/Yarmouth (4-3, in overtime). After home losses to Lake Region (7-5), Edward Little (6-0) and Thornton Academy (6-0), the Red Storm beat visiting Cape Elizabeth (4-1) and Biddeford (6-1). Last week, the Red Storm finally went on the road and won at South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport (2-1) and lost at two-time reigning Class B champion Greely (6-2).
Portland/Deering opened with losses at Lake Region (5-3) and Edward Little (7-1), then fell at South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport (5-0), at home to Mt. Ararat (4-3), at home to Cheverus/Yarmouth (8-1) and after a three-week hiatus, at Cape Elizabeth (6-0).
The teams didn’t meet a year ago. They did play twice in 2019-20 and Scarborough won them both, 8-2 in the regular season and 6-1 in the Class A state quarterfinals.
Monday, Portland/Deering hoped to get in the win column, but the Red Storm started fast and never looked back.
Scarborough peppered Becker from the opening faceoff and went ahead to stay at 1:35 of the first period, when Rumelhart skated around the goal, then flicked a shot past the goalie and in. Junior Thomas Hassett was credited with an assist.
Becker then held the Red Storm at bay until the 9:28 mark, when Pedersen got the puck from classmate Ryan Ravis and roofed a shot over Becker.
Scarborough then needed just 30 seconds to strike again, as Rumelhart scored for the second time, from senior Jack Carlista.
The Red Storm could have led by even more, but Becker made 15 saves in the first period and junior Jordan Sheppard rang a shot off the crossbar.
Scarborough’s special teams then got into the act in the second period.
First, Rumelhart completed his hat track just 59 seconds in, scoring on a rebound with Grondin and Will Fallona receiving assists.
“I wanted a hat trick bad,” Rumelhart said. “If you have two goals, you might as well get three.”
“Sam’s a great all-around player,” said Wirsing. “He works hard and has a lot of speed and puts teams on their heels and allows us to open things up offensively. He wants to get better. He’s a great kid to coach.”
Mahoney then scored on the power play at 7:28, with Carlista and Daemon Bobbin getting assists.
Rumelhart scored his fourth goal at 9:58, unassisted, then, at 11:57, the Red Storm struck on the power play again, as Grondin rebounded home a shot from Jack Matthews, with Griffin Denbow getting the other assist.
With the clock running in the third period, Scarborough only mustered four shots, which Becker stopped.
Then, with 5:13 remaining, Walsh scored unassisted, his first varsity goal.
That would be it for offense and the Red Storm closed out their 7-1 victory.
“Being able to score a lot of goals was great,” Rumelhart said. “(Ryan’s) a very good goalie. He’s always been good, but we used our speed and worked well together. We passed well and didn’t try to just do it ourselves. When we work together, we’re unstoppable. Coming back off that loss like this is great. ”
“Our speed and our depth offensively really helped us out,” said Wirsing.
Scarborough finished with a 45-8 shots advantage, got six saves from senior Christopher Lafferty and two from junior Keegan Weed.
Portland/Deering got 38 saves from Becker and closed strong.
“First period, we probably should have gotten out of that 1-0,” said Portland/Deering coach Jeff Beaney, who took last winter off but has returned to the program.”Second period, you get down a little bit and without a lot of experience, when the ice is tilted against you, they don’t know how to even it up. We told them not to worry about the score but to play hard and we won the third period, so I’m happy how we finished.”
“We knew we had to put lots of shots on (Becker),” said Wirsing. “They play a great structure. Jeff does a great job coaching that team and putting them in a position to be successful.”
Onward
Portland/Deering will try again Wednesday when it hosts York.
“The schedule hasn’t helped us,” Beaney said. “We’ve gotten the top teams right out of the chute without a lot of returners. The guys have good attitudes. A lot of them aren’t used to losing, but there are different levels of success. It doesn’t always show up on the scoreboard.”
Scarborough stays on the road with trips to Biddeford Thursday and Marshwood Saturday.
“We just have to all be ready to play together,” Rumelhart said. “Even me, I have some bad games and some good games. We just need to get in our groove.
“I want to get back (to states). That game two years ago was unbelievable. I had a goal reviewed in overtime and I still think about that. If we get everyone moving well, we’ll be tough to beat.”
“We still need more structure in our system play and that’s something we’ve been working on and we’ll continue to work on it,” Wirsing said. “We have the skill. I’d like to think we’ve put ourselves in position to be successful. If we play our game, I think we can play with anyone.”
Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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