WINSLOW — The third time was the charm for Edward Little on Tuesday. 

After losing both regular-season meetings with Lawrence/Skowhegan, the fifth-seeded Red Eddies won the matchup that mattered the most, topping the No. 4 seeded Bandits, 6-1, in the Eastern Class A quarterfinals at Sukee Arena. They will play St. Dominic Academy in the regional semifinals on Saturday at the Colisee. 

For the first time all year, the Red Eddies were at full strength, a stark contrast to the last time they played the Bandits. Edward Little had all 19 players on the bench Tuesday. It had half its team in the stands in its previous meeting, a 5-3 loss at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Feb. 4. 

“It’s very tough to beat a team three times during the season no matter what team it is,” Edward Little coach Craig Latuscha said. “We changed things up the past week-and-a-half. We scouted them quite a few times. For the first time all season we had every body on board tonight.” 

The Red Eddies (10-9) never led in their first two games against the Bandits. They needed just 3:11 into the first period to take the lead for good. It came short-handed as Liam Benson skated the length of the ice past the Lawrence/Skowhegan defense and beat goaltender Curtis Martin to give Edward Little a 1-0 lead. 

Dixon Dilodovico, who wasn’t in the lineup for Edward Little’s second contest with the Bandits, made it 2-0 a minute later. 

Edward Little’s lead ballooned to three early in the second period when Branden Dyer circled behind the Bandit net before firing a sharp-angled shot from the side of the cage off Martin’s glove-side shoulder and over the goal line. 

“We came out and we were flat,” Lawrence/Skowhegan coach Ted Fabian said. “The emotions before the game, I don’t know if that got to us or what not, but we just didn’t bring it tonight. Edward Little came out and they took away all time and space. They capitalized on all of our turnovers and mistakes. They brought it and we didn’t.” 

The Bandits got on back mid way through the second period. While on the power play, Trey Michonski redirected a pass from the blue line from Sam Haver under Edward Little goaltender Devin Dumont to pull Lawrence/Skowhegan within 3-1 after two periods. The Bandits outshot the Red Eddies, 14-8, in the middle frame. 

Edward Little controlled a third period that quickly turned into a penalty fest. The Red Eddies fired 14 shots on net and added three goals to its offensive output to seal the senior class’ first playoff win. 

“It’s been a long time for them and it’s well-deserved,” Latuscha said. “We had a big win against Lewiston this year, which is definitely awesome and shows us that we can play with some other teams when we really show up to play. We’ve had good games and bad games like any other team during the season. This is one of the positive ones.” 

Ryan Raby one-timed a shot from the slot off a feed from Dyer behind the net with 8:04 remaining to put the Red Eddies ahead 4-1. The four goals were the most they put up against the Bandits this season. Edward Little scored three times in both regular-season losses. 

“As the season progressed, we got better and better,” Dumont said. “We just finally took it to them.” 

The Red Eddies tacked on two late goals for good measure. Max Giard buried an empty-netter with 1:54 left and Cade Chapman scored from the blue line 13 seconds later. 

“We all came together as a team and put our heart into it,” Edward Little’s Ben Steele said. “We had one goal and we accomplished that goal, which was to play in March.”

Both penalty kill units were sharp, and they had to be as the teams combined for 17 penalties. The Red Eddies were assessed six of the first seven, killing off all but one. The Bandits finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage. 

Lawrence/Skowhegan didn’t help its comeback chances in the second half of the contest as they took seven penalties in the second and third periods after playing penalty-free in the first. In the final 15:09, the Bandits accumulated 17 penalty minutes. 

Dumont finished with 28 saves for his first playoff win. In the two regular-season meetings with the Bandits, Dumont allowed 10 goals and was pulled in his first outing. 

“It feels great, especially against these guys where we got killed both times,” Dumont said. 

Martin also finished with 28 saves.