AUBURN — Yarmouth/Freeport skated with the top-seeded girls’ hockey team from Leavitt/Edward Little most of the time Saturday.
But in those moments when Leavitt/Edward Little got chances, it showed its scoring punch.
Leavitt/Edward Little topped Yarmouth/Freeport 6-1 in an East semifinal at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
The Red Hornets (16-3) advanced to the East final Wednesday at Portland Ice Arena against Lewiston.
The No. 4 Clippers had their best season at 14-5-1, with three losses to Leavitt/Edward Little.
Six Red Hornets scored, and Taylor Landry and Haley Frohlich each had three assists. Ariel Potter had a power-play goal for Yarmouth/Freeport.
Landry scored 1:34 into the game, taking a pass and burying it into an open net.
It took 48 seconds into the second period for Leavitt/Edward Little to lead 3-0. Mariah Vaillancourt rebounded a Landry shot at 32 seconds, and Emma Martineau scored through a crowd 16 seconds later.
“They’re that quick,” Clippers Coach Jeff Haley said. “You blink and you miss a lot of what they do. They move the puck extremely well. That’s why they’re the No. 1 seed. They have depth. They have drive.”
But Potter gave Yarmouth/Freeport a chance. On a power play, Emily Johnson got the puck to Potter, who backhanded it in, cutting the deficit to 3-1 at 7:36 of the second.
“We hadn’t scored on them all year,” said Potter. “We just kept putting the puck on net.”
Yarmouth/Freeport stayed within two until halfway through the third.
“We did everything we could to contain them,” Haley said. “We kept it a close game. Then we were caught standing around too much.”
In the third period, Frohlich scored at 6:57. Then the Red Hornets scored 20 seconds apart, at 11:23 and 11:43, to put the game away.
“Our girls just took advantage,” Leavitt/Edward Little Coach Shon Collins said. “They kept flying and put the pressure on.”
After the game the Red Hornets hugged each other, but the Clippers didn’t hang their heads. With their fans (and Collins) applauding, they lined up and banged their sticks on the ice.
“It was a good year,” said Potter, the senior captain. “We had never made it this far.”
Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or at:
kthomas@pressherald.com
Twitter: KevinThomasPPH
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