PORTLAND – South Portland played one of its best third periods of the season Thursday night to skate to a 4-1 victory against archrival Portland in a Western Class A schoolboy hockey game at the Portland Ice Arena.

The Riots limited the Bulldogs to two shots on goal in the final period to improve their record to 4-4-1.

“In the third period, we just picked it up and played to our fullest,” said Zach Griffin, a senior right wing who scored two goals and had an assist. “Once we got the lead, we kept it flowing. Just good teamwork. No individual stuff.”

South Portland moved into the lead for good four minutes into the third period when Josh Cobb scored on a hard shot from the left point to snap a 1-1 tie.

The Riots didn’t sit on their lead. They kept coming at the Bulldogs for the rest of the game.

“They definitely smelled blood in the water when they got that lead and were buzzing around,” Portland Coach Andy Gildart said. “They were a little bit stronger on the puck and were winning those one-on-one battles all over the ice.”

South Portland Coach Joe Robinson wasn’t happy with the way his team played in the first two periods.

“I went in and yelled at them during the second intermission,” he said. “We were running around and the (defense) was trying to skate with the puck and not pass it.”

Still, the Riots took a 1-0 lead into the third.

Griffin broke a scoreless tie 11 minutes into the second when he whirled and put in a shot from the bottom of the left circle.

Portland (5-5) had nearly 90 percent of its chances during the first two periods, when it held a 14-13 edge in shots on goal.

During the second period, the Bulldogs had three power plays, but South Portland’s penalty killers limited them to a total of three shots on goal during those six minutes.

The Riots have gone four games without allowing a power-play goal.

“Now the guys are taking pride in their penalty-killing,” Robinson said. “Now when we take a penalty they don’t get scared. They’re not nervous. They look at it as a challenge.”

After the evenly played first two periods, the Bulldogs appeared to get back into the game 35 seconds into the third when Eddie Apon put in a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

“It was a great way to start the third period,” Gildart said.

“We drew up a play and had some guys on offense who don’t usually play together.”

But South Portland regained the momentum when Cobb scored and took control of the game.

With less than eight minutes left, Tommy Ellis scored a power-play goal to make it 3-1. Griffin put the puck into an empty net with 20 seconds left to complete the scoring.

“It turned out to be one of our strongest third periods of the season, especially after playing like we did in the first two periods,” Robinson said.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com