AUBURN — St. Dominic Academy has been on the wrong end of a few lopsided games this season, but on Saturday the Saints were the ones putting the ball in the net in a 6-0 Class D South boys soccer win over Rangeley. It was St. Dom’s (1-7) first win of the season.
“We have had some closes games, but this one is the first time we put a lot (of goals) up on the board,” St. Dom’s midfielder Timmy Ouellette said. “It feels good.”
The Saints also had a 3-2 loss to Poland on Sept. 25 and a 2-1 loss to Sacopee Valley on Sept. 17. They lost 9-1 against Fryeburg Academy on Thursday.
Ouellette led the Saints offensively with a hat trick, and Thomas Suckow had two goals.
Suckow gave St. Dom’s a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the first half.
The goal was on the Saints’ sixth shot of the half. After that, St. Dom’s put 18 shots towards Rangeley’s net in the first half. Lakers keeper Logan Belt made seven saves.
The Lakers (3-3-1) were missing their regular goalie James Hathaway due to an injury.
Belt was making his first start in net.
“Honestly, I think it was a survival mindset,” Rangeley coach Rowenna Hathaway said. “He was a little nervous, and he never started in (goal) before. He knew he had big shoes to fill, and he did a phenomenal job.”
Belt made four more saves in the second half.
St. Dom’s coach Brady Whetzel thought the Saints were just off in the opening half.
“First half, we weren’t communicating properly and we weren’t moving the ball in the middle (of the field),” Whetzel said. “Those were the two biggest things. In the second half, we came out, we had a little bit of fire in us. We started to move the ball around a little bit better and getting some shots off when we had the clear, open lanes. Then the goals followed.”
Rangeley lost Brayden Thompson and speaking captain Chase Carmichael due to injury, which hurt the team’s depth in the second half.
“I think the injuries took us out (of the game),” Hathaway said. “It was two key players we lost, and those were two of our strongest offensive players. (Thompson) was supposed to be my goalie in the second half. … Losing your speaking captain on the field hurts. We will work on it; we are a young team.”
Ashton Hammond set up the Saints’ second goal of the game by sending in a cross into the 18-yard box and Ouellette deflected the ball into the net.
“I just saw the ball coming in, and I went to the back post,” Ouellette said. “I hoped I could connect with it, and I put it in.”
Suckow gave the Saints a 3-0 lead when Ouellette put a direct kick in between the two walls, and Suckow got a foot on the ball to put it in the net.
Hammond set up Ouellette again to stretch the lead to 4-0. Garrett Kendall then scored and Ouellette added his third goal of the game to round out the scoring.
Michael Stowe made three saves in goal for St. Dom’s to earn the shutout.
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