HALLOWELL — Another intense playoff battle between Yarmouth/Freeport and the Penobscot Pioneers had a familiar ending.
For the third straight season, the Clippers knocked off Penobscot, winning 4-2 in a Northern Maine girls hockey semifinal Saturday at the Thomas College Ice Vault. Yarmouth/Freeport (15-3-1) beat the Pioneers (7-10-2) — a co-op consisting of Brewer, Bangor, Hampden Academy, Hermon, John Bapst, Old Town and Orono — by 3-1 scores in the past two regional finals.
“They’ve always given us time to run for our money,” Yarmouth/Freeport forward Celia Zinman said. “I think they’ve been a rival of ours for a bit, but I think they’re a strong team (and) they have to work hard. They definitely worked hard, but I think we just wanted it, and we really worked together as a team.”
How Yarmouth/Freeport won
The Clippers took a 1-0 lead when Adelaide Strout’s shot hit the end boards and bounced to Drea Rideout, who put the puck past Pioneers goalie Abbie Derosier five minutes into the first period.
Penobscot’s Jordin Williams put home a rebound later in the first to tie the game. Williams then gave the Pioneers a lead six minutes into the second with a shot from the top of the left circle.
Yarmouth/Freeport’s Dylan McElhinney evened the game late in the second. On the Clippers’ second power play, Celia Zinman scored for a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Zinman later potted an empty net goal.
They said it
• “The feeling I think we just had to keep pushing. We knew we have a very good defensive team, so we just knew we had to keep them off the board. We’ve done a lot of shooting at practice this week, so we knew we were going to be getting some pucks on goal and we just had to hit the back of the net.” — Yarmouth/Freeport coach David Intraversato
• “(Jordin Williams) played awesome. She had a little bit of an up-and-down year or, really, a rough year for her. You know, I think she only played about 10 complete games, unfortunately. But when we needed her today, she definitely stepped it up. And I thought a lot of the other girls did, too.” — Penobscot coach Jarrod Williams
Statistical leaders
• Yarmouth/Freeport: Zinman (two goals) Rideout (goal), McElhinney (goal), Nasveschuk (three assists), Strout (two assists), Lexi Wiles (19 saves).
• Penobscot: Williams (two goals), Derosier (19 saves).
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