The Clippers enjoyed the luxury of having one of the best goaltenders in the State of Maine and put together their best game of the season en route to a 4-3 win over Portland/Deering, which entered the game holding second place in Class A South.
It may be an odd description, but Dan Latham was quietly outstanding in net. Latham not only made a number of big saves, but his rebound control was perfect as he continually denied Portland’s scoring bids while also directing rebounds out of harm’s way.
Captain Chris Romano led the offense with two goals and an assist and Assistant Captain Cooper May picked up a goal and an assist. Yarmouth faces Greely this Saturday at Family Ice Arena. Game time is 7:50 pm.
Yarmouth played well from the opening face-off and with 4:30 left in the first period, Cooper May capped off a nice individual effort with a shot that beat Portland goaltender Sam Segal. May’s goal gave Yarmouth a 1-0 lead that they took into the locker room. Chris Romano and Bennett Travers were credited with the assists.
In the second period, Romano extended Yarmouth’s lead to two with a power play goal assisted by Cooper May, but three successive penalties put Yarmouth at a difficult 5 v 3 disadvantage for over two minutes. Despite a number of spectacular saves from Latham, Portland’s Cam King finally capitalized on the extended power play to cut the lead in half, but the Clippers came right back.
With 2:52 remaining in the second period, Joe Truesdale redirected a Dominic Morrill shot with his head to restore the two-goal lead, thus proving the importance of getting pucks and bodies to the net. Owen Ramsay was credited with the secondary assist.
In the third period, Yarmouth switched to a very disciplined 1-2-2 forecheck and Portland had difficulty breaking out of their own zone. The forecheck led to numerous scoring opportunities and at just over four minutes into the period, Chris Romano scored his second goal to give Yarmouth a three-goal lead.
As the period wore on, Yarmouth’s positioning broke down and the game turned into up-and-down action, which was the exact game the Clippers did not want to play. With 3:50 left in the game, Portland’s Dom Tocci scored on a breakaway to cut the lead to two goals and Tocci scored again just over a minute later to pull Portland within one. The final minutes were frantic, but the Clippers held on for the 4-3 win.
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NOTES: For complete box scores of all games, players statistics and team statistics, go to www.MaineHSHockey.com.
