Scarborough thundered to an early lead over Falmouth in Wednesday nights A West Championship, then maintained control throughout. In the first five minutes alone, Elizabeth Gross picked up two and Samantha Shoebottom tallied one.

After that, the Red Storm cruised to a 7-0 W.

We told the girls, We need to go out there and pop a few goals in quickly, Scarborough head coach Caitlin Cashman said. Take the wind out of their sails.

The speeches she gives sometimes, Gross said of Cashman, really pump me up. Just go as hard as you can, right off the bat, shut em down.

Scarborough, now 20-0 on the season, advances to Saturday nights state final against Lewiston, who defeated Leavitt/Edward Little 2-0 for the A East crown. The puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.

Cashman didnt expect to beat the Yachtsmen by such a huge margin. We just went out there saying, Take it shift by shift, carry by carry, shoot with a purpose because Falmouth is a gritty, hardworking teamYouve to be able to finish, and [we] were able to finish tonight.

Senior forward Rachel Wallace was also surprised by the Red Storms lopsided victory. Whenever we play Falmouth, they come to play. So I was expecting it to be a bit closer game. Obviously, every team hopes they can win by that much.

Falmouth managed to even out play in the latter part of the first period, generating a handful of solid opportunities as the clock ticked toward zero. Red Storm goalie Devan Kane proved unbeatable, however. The one puck that bounced over her, even appeared to slide in the net, must not have crossed the goal line, as the attendant official waved it off.

Scarborough turned some additional pretty plays themselves, before the first buzzer. Riley McKeown whirled through a spin-move to divide the Falmouth defense in the slot and pull the trigger on a backhander in close. McKeown didnt score just then, but the thrilling display of footwork and puckhandling foreshadowed the dominance her team would exert in the second.

Building a big lead can lull teams into false security, but not Scarborough. Gross felt that she and her roster-mates might have let up here and there but never for long. We might have [relaxed], at some points, but then we just stepped it right back up.

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Red Storm sweep away Yachtsmen for A West title