WATERVILLE — Cody Ivey netted a hat trick, the power play connected three times and the penalty killers even got in on the action with a pair of goals. For one night at least, the RiverHawks righted an unsteady ship.
Kennebec rolled to an 8-2 win over a lifeless Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth squad in a Class B North boys hockey game at Colby College’s Alfond Rink Wednesday night, finally posting its first win of the season in four tries this winter.
“It was teamwork,” said Ivey, a senior. “We worked as a team a lot better tonight. We backchecked, we played a lot more defense than offense and it worked out.”
The RiverHawks (1-3-0), who had allowed 8.00 goals per game entering the night, needed only 13 saves from Bryce Gunzinger to see out a win in which they scored three times in the first period and three more times in the second.
After a first period in which shots — 15 of them — didn’t always translate into dangerous scoring chances or sustained pressure, Kennebec looked much more comfortable in the middle stanza.
“That’s when I started to feel really good,” said Kennebec coach Jon Hart. “It was our first game after putting in a lot of new stuff and we were still working out some kinks. We did a better job tonight.
“They’re starting to get it.”
Cony (2-2-0), which got both of its goals from junior Quincy Tobias, never seemed to find its footing.
Whistled for six penalties, including a major early in the third, the Rams coughed up power play goals to the RiverHawks three times. Even on its own man-advantages — two of them — Cony came up scoreless while surrendering two shorthanded goals 40 seconds apart midway through the second period as Kennebec opened up a 6-1 lead.
“We were absolutely flat,” Cony coach Shawn Johnson said. “The only time we really skated was when we had the puck on our stick. Other than that, we didn’t really work that hard. Give credit to (Kennebec), they did. They worked without the puck.”
Brandon Mason and Zach Menoudarakos, who flipped the right wing and right defenseman spots in the top grouping prior to the game, each scored in the win. Nate Newgard, Brandon Bearce and Peter Sack also had RiverHawk goals to help end the three-game skid to begin the season.
“We were pretty frustrated, because we know that we’re a way better team than we’ve showed,” Ivey said.
Matty Shea made 27 saves in the losing effort.
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