The Clippers continued to cut a swath through Class A as they downed Thornton Academy 4-1 at Biddeford Ice Arena. As usual, Patrick Grant was the offensive heart of the team and showed that he is also one of the toughest players in Maine High School hockey. The win moves Yarmouth’s record to a perfect 7-0 and sets up a Class B showdown with unbeaten Waterville this Saturday. Game time is 7:40 pm at Travis Roy Arena.
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In the opening minutes, Thornton largely dominated play, but Yarmouth did an excellent job of forcing the Thornton forwards to the perimeter and denying good scoring chances. Yarmouth’s solid defense led to offensive opportunities as Anders Newburg opened the scoring with an assist from Patrick Grant and Tyler Veilleux. Yarmouth took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.
In the second period, Yarmouth took over as Walter Conrad blasted home what would prove to be the game winner with an assist from Patrick Grant. A few minutes later, Chris Romano (Conrad) scored a wrap-around goal to extend the lead to three. However, Thornton came firing back as they cut the lead on a hard, top corner goal by Nolan Millett and the second period ended with a 3-1 score.
Thornton came out flying in the third period, but Dan Latham was up to the task as he made a number of timely saves. The officials swallowed their whistles and did not call any penalties in the final stanza with the exception of a controversial embellishment call against Chris Romano with 4:50 remaining in the game.
Yarmouth successfully killed off Romano’s penalty and won the battles in front of Latham to keep Thornton from cutting the lead any further. In the final minute, Noah Grondin (Grant) picked up an empty net goal to seal the victory.
The YC Ultras made it sound like a home game as took they took the barn away from Thornton. The support from the Ultras are a big reason the Clippers have been successful on the road.
Yarmouth Hockey 