SCARBOROUGH – The Rams built a substantial lead in the early going at Scarborough on Saturday afternoon, June 10, jumping out 4-0 in the first quarter on goals by Colby Gould, Alex York and others. But the Storm dug deep after that, and battled back to ultimately seize a 6-5 victory.

“The boys never stopped believing in themselves and what their goal was,” said Scarborough head coach Joe Hezlep simply.

Gorham largely controlled the opening 12 minutes. Gould kicked things off, scoring on a York assist, and York followed him up, scoring after Scarborough keeper Dominic Joy lost his stick behind the net. Jake Dupuis added the Rams’ third, then assisted York on their fourth.

One key to the Rams’ impressive start was shutting down Scarborough superstar Sam Neugebauer, a task they failed to accomplish when the teams met at the start of the regular season. Scarborough won that game 15-9, Neugebauer scoring six.

“We were able to shut down Sam which was our main plan in the defensive zone,” said Gorham goalie (and All-American) Carter Landry. “They were definitely rattled early in the game, and we are able to capitalize in the offensive end on this momentum.”

The Storm slowly wrenched the momentum away as the game progressed, however. Marco Manfra made it 4-1 midway through the second, assisted by Drew Cusson; Cam Thibault cut it to 4-2 as the break approached. Manfra tallied two more in the third, the first on a feed from Thibault. 

“Most of Scarborough’s goals were in transition,” Landry said, “which was frustrating. At the same time, it was rewarding to know we could beat them in a settled situation. Then they made a key defensive change and shut down our cutters and it was tough for us to run the offense we were used too. Cam was guarded tight by Reese (Lagerquist, Scarborough junior defender), which put a lot of pressure on Alex.”

Headed into the fourth, the rivals were tied. Then, with 10:40 to play, Marc Guerette seized the first Storm lead of the day. A minute and a half later, Cam Wright balanced the board once again, 5-5, but 45 seconds after that, Manfra got the last word of the afternoon, again assisted by Thibault. Though the teams tussled through eight more minutes, 6-5 is where things would conclude.

Gorham retires for the year at 10-4. Scarborough, 11-2 after dispatching the Rams, moved on to face No. 2 Thornton in the Regional Final, held June 14.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME

Dominic Joy tracks the action, in net for Scarborough.

Scarborough’s Cam Thibault fends off Gorhamite Colby Gould, on the attack.

Ryan Hamblen of Gorham covers Scarborough’s Sam Neugebauer. It took a team effort, but the Rams held Neugebauer scoreless in their semifinals matchup on Saturday.

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