FALMOUTH — The Biddeford boys hockey team edged past Falmouth 3-2 at the Falmouth Family Ice Center on Thursday night.
Heading into the third period tied at 2-2, the two offenses would battle for about three minutes until Biddeford’s Nick McSorley took a pass from Bryce Pray and scored to put the Tigers in front for good.
“I thought we played pretty well tonight. We played as a team. It was a pretty close game, but we pulled it out,” said Biddeford senior captain Colin Petit.
Falmouth started the scoring with 1:49 left in the first as Coleman Allen slid the puck into the net after a pass from Charlie Adams.
“Both teams battled hard. I think both teams are still trying to find their identity from last year, both teams had great season. We’re both still playing hard schedules. We’re still battling,” said Biddeford head coach Jason Tremblay. “It was good hard-fought battle by both sides.”
Biddeford would turn the tide in the second period.
It would take Petit three minutes to open the second period with a goal off a rebound to tie the game 1-1.
With 5:49 left in the period, Petit would grab the lead for the Tigers with another goal off a pass from McSorley.
“The second (goal) was a two-on-one and Nick McSorley gave me a good pass across the ice and I one-timed it,” said Petit.
Falmouth’s Joseph Cyr-Brophy would answer back with 3:56 left in the second period, when he sailed the puck into the Tiger’s net to lock the game into a 2-2 tie.
The game could have easily gone the other way if it wasn’t for the incredible play of Biddeford goaltender Justin Larnerd. The senior stopped 27 tough shots throughout the game.
“I had to come up big and just hang in there,” said Larnerd.
Tremblay was impressed with Larnerd’s performance.
“It starts with the net, Justin has been playing tremendous for us. He’s our backbone right now,” said Tremblay.
With a short bench, the Tigers played new positions to secure the win.
“Right now, we have 10-11 guys that are going. We had 10 tonight and so in the middle of the game we had D going to forward, forward going to D just whatever we needed at the moment. That’s the MO with these guys right now. They’re willing to do anything. We’re still searching for our identity and this was a hard-fought win for us,” said Tremblay.
Biddeford improves to 5-3, while the Clippers fall to 2-6.
Biddeford will travel to Kennebunk/Wells on Saturday.
“It’s something that we preach every night, shift by shift, period by period, game by game that’s what we’re looking forward to right now. We’re going to enjoy this one, get back on the ice tomorrow and get back at it,” said Tremblay.
— Sports Writer Sienna Barstow can be reached at sbarstow@journaltribune.com or at 780-9018. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.