Several playoff seeds are still up for grabs as the regular season in girls’ hockey comes to a close on Feb 3. Regional quarterfinals are scheduled for Feb. 7.
In the South, defending state champion Cheverus (14-1) has the top seed locked up, but there’s a battle for the No. 2 seed between the Gorham co-op (10-4) and the Portland Beacons co-op (9-5).
Gorham hosts the Beacons on Saturday. When those teams played on Jan. 11, Portland won, 4-3.
“It was a close game. We’re hoping we can keep it another close game and maybe win, and keep winning,” Gorham senior Emerson Homa said after Thursday’s 6-4 win over Brunswick.
Thursday’s win was the fourth of eight straight games against opponents with a winning record for Gorham. Following Saturday’s game against the Beacons, the Rams will play Falmouth/Scarborough (8-7), Cheverus and Penobscot (11-4).
“Maybe the benefit is we’ll be playoff-ready, and hopefully not too banged up,” Gorham Coach Mary Vaughan said.
In the North, Yarmouth/Freeport (12-3) and Penobscot are fighting for the top seed, and play each other Tuesday. Yarmouth/Freeport took the first game against Penobscot, 6-5.
Brunswick (7-7) is looking to hold on to the No. 3 spot in the North. The Dragons still have to play No. 4 St. Dominic twice, along with games against Falmouth/Scarborough and Portland.
“Falmouth is really coming along. Portland is a really solid team, and we’ve got St. Dom’s twice. Four games, three of which are on the road, in the next seven days, eight days,” Brunswick Coach Chris Ledwick said. “We’ve got to take care of things with St. Dom’s. We’re not trying to win a state championship today, they’re not giving one out today, but we’re trying to get better by the end of the season.”
THE CHEVERUS/YARMOUTH boys continued their hot streak a 4-1 win Thursday over defending Class A state champion Thornton Academy. The win was the fifth in six games for Cheverus/Yarmouth and improved its record to 7-2, and just .09 points behind Greely (8-2) for second place in the Class B South Heal point standings.
The team has worked to clean up puck-management issues that were bothersome earlier this season, Coach David St. Pierre said, and the improvement has shown.
“Offensively, everybody is working hard together. It makes us tougher to defend,” St. Pierre said. “We’re taking care of the puck and moving it.”
St. Pierre pointed at the play of his third line – Brady Martin, Sam Bradford and Hakon Yeo – as a bright spot. Dubbed the Orange Line for the color of their practice jerseys, the trio has combined for three goals and eight assists, and Bradford’s short-handed goal opened the scoring in Thursday’s win over Thornton.
Cheverus/Yarmouth has been strong in net, with sophomore Ethan Tucker seeing most of the time. With a .914 save percentage and 1.59 goals-against average, Tucker has been one of the strongest goalies in the state.
“(Tucker) brings a very calming presence in net for us. The boys trust him,” St. Pierre said. “John Wallace has played well for us in net, too. Having two good goalies is a good problem to have.”
Cheverus/Yarmouth’s remaining schedule is tough, beginning with Saturday’s game against Class A Edward Little at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. Cheverus/Yarmouth also has a pair of games against Gorham (6-4), as well as rematches against Greely and York (7-3), the two teams it lost to earlier this season.
“I don’t think we have a night off the rest of the season. We have some of our top opponents coming up,” St. Pierre said. “We’ll be challenged every time we hit the ice, and we want that.”
THE FALMOUTH BOYS are a few days into a scheduling quirk that finds them without a game from Jan. 22 until Feb. 7 – a stretch of 16 days. For a team that has won three games in a row and four out of its last five, the break is not ideal, Coach Deron Barton said.
“I have no answer for that,” Barton said about the long break. “We’ve all got these gaps, and we’re trying to fill in with scrimmages.”
The Navigators (8-5) will host Barrington, Rhode Island, for an exhibition game on Feb. 3. The rest of the time, Falmouth will practice and hold intrasquad scrimmages.
“There’s always things to clean up,” Barton said.
After struggling to score much of the season, Falmouth found its offense in back-to-back wins – 5-0 over Scarborough and 5-1 over Fryeburg/Lake Region/Oxford Hills. Even when the goals weren’t coming, the Navigators were getting shots and following their systems, Barton said.
“We seem to have broken the seal there, and I’m hopeful it continues,” Barton said.
Unlike last season, when Falmouth had the top two scorers in the state in Travis Roy Award winner Mitch Ham (24 goals, 42 assists) and Aaron Higgins (33 goals, 34 assists), the Navigators’ scoring has been more balanced. Jacoby Porter and Henry Whiting are tied for the team lead in goals with six, and Rowan Hagerty (five goals, 10 assists) and Andrew Belliveau (three goals, 11 assists) lead the team in points.
Barton knew the Navigators would be built from the goal out this season, and junior goalie Brandon White has been one of the best netminders in Class A, with a 1.44 goals-against average and .928 save percentage, to go with four shutouts. White has allowed more than two goals just three times in 13 games.
“He makes the saves he has to make, and he makes saves you don’t expect him to make. He constantly works at it,” Barton said.
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