GORHAM—The MOB – that’s the Massabesic/Old Orchard Beach/Bonny Eagle boys hockey co-op – picked up a 3-0 victory over Windham/Westbrook on Friday night, Feb. 15. Grayson Krause, Brady Cormier and Dylan Tozier all scored for the MOB en route to the W, while standout freshman goaltender Gavin Sperlich turned in yet another strong performance.
“We played okay,” MOB head coach Loren Blair said. “We ran in to penalty trouble in the second and got out of our gameplan. We need to play better if we are going to make the playoffs. It’s going to be a long week.”
“We didn’t get the start we wanted and dug ourselves an early hole,” Windham/Westbrook head coach Greg Leclair said. “We started to get more opportunities as the game went on but came up empty. We were unlucky a bit as we found the iron a couple of times.”
The MOB tallied one point per period, with Krause earning his notch (on an assist by Logan Caron) late in the first, and Cormier earning his (assists to Kurtis Morin and Paidric Green) late in the second.
“The first two goals were simply because we were slow to react to loose pucks and as a result gave up scoring chances,” Leclair said. “We needed to be quicker to the puck in order to either gain possession or take away the time and space of their forwards.”
The MOB earned their third goal roughly a third of the way through the third period. Scott Blanchette assisted Tozier in making the play.
Sperlich faced 15 shots and, obviously, rejected them all. Windham/Westbrook keeper Sean White, himself an excellent player in that position, turned away 18 of 21. The MOB racked up 14 penalty minutes on seven minor infractions; Windham/Westbrook racked up 10 on five.
“We’ve struggled to find the back of the net,” Leclair said. “We knew, coming into the year, that we’d need someone to step to the fore and become a consistent goal-scorer, but that hasn’t really materialized. Some of that can be chalked up to youth and inexperience. At the end of the day, regardless of the reasons, we just need to be more focused and determined when the opportunities to score come our way.”
The MOB followed up their victory over Windham/Westbrook with another, this one over Cony/Monmouth/Hall-Dale by the score of 2-1 on Tuesday the 19th. They closed their regular season with a 2-0 loss to South Portland two days later. The 11-7 team currently occupies seventh – the last playoff slot – in A South.
Windham/Westbrook earned a 1-0 win over Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills (the Ice Cats) on Tuesday the 19th; they faced off with Marshwood/Traip/Sanford/Noble on the 21st. The squad occupies seventh in A North at the moment, one slot back from tournament contention. Alas, it appears they won’t make the cut this year.
Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME.
Colin Casserly attacks for Windham/Westbrook.
Tayte Harris shovels the puck through the corner.
Grayson Krause had one of the MOB’s three goals Friday night.
Jordan Cantz drives toward the net on the attack for Windham/Westbrook.
Windham/Westbrooker Derek Corbett chases the play.
Austin White shovels the puck up-ice and a MOB opponent curls away.
Chris Westgate moves with the action.
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