Anton Castro had quite the junior hockey debut for the Northeast Generals.
The 17-year-old goalkeeper, who has already made his college commitment to Boston University, made 34 saves in the Generals’ 5-1 victory over the Maine Nordiques at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston on Friday night.
“They played hard in front of him,” Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said. “He made the saves he needed to make.
“They are a team like I was saying (Wednesday), they are a team that has improved and it’s up to our guys if they want to continue to be dressed. It’s up to our guys to do the thing the right way or we will have to find guys that will get the job done.”
The game was the second of five in a row at the Colisee between the two North American Hockey League East division rivals. The Nordiques won the first game Wednesday 4-3.
The Generals had five different goal-scorers in the win, with Kyle Schroeder and Tyler Cooper each having a goal and an assist.
Northeast (5-9-1, 11 points) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Andy Stoneman, who played for Bowdoin College last season, scored the opening goal just past the six-minute mark, with Eric Fawkes and Aidan Flynn notching the assists.
Both Fawkes and Flynn are Division I committed players with Fawkes committed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while Flynn is heading to the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Halfway through the first period, Kyle Schroeder put in the Generals’ second goal as he beat Nordiques goalie Tyriq Outen (30 saves).
The Nordiques (9-5-0, 18 points) couldn’t capitalize on a five-minute power play late in the first period, as Fawkes got the boot from the game for a major penalty for boarding and a game disqualification.
Howe wished the team scored at least one goal on the extended power play, but the team lost some momentum after giving up the two goals.
“I liked our start. I thought we were good for the first half of the first period. A couple of odd-man rushes led them scoring a couple goals,” Howe said. “We went into the first (intermission) down, but there were times in that first period we were playing the right way. In the second period I wasn’t a fan of, but we regrouped in the third but too little, too late. You can’t play two halves of two periods and expect to win in this league.”
Northeast’s power play put the Generals up 3-0 in the second period as Long Island University commit Dylan Schuett found the back of the net. Assists went to Tyler Cooper and Alexander Tertyshny (American International College recruit).
The Generals were 1-for-4 on the man advantage while the Nordiques were scoreless on six chances.
Cooper stretched the lead out to 4-0 lead halfway through the period.
University of Connecticut recruit Ignat Belov put the Nordiques on the board two minutes after Gordon’s goal. It was Belov’s first goal of the season, with Stefan Owens setting up the goal.
Aidan Curran, who’s scheduled to attend the University of New Hampshire next season, added the fifth goal for the Generals late in the game.
The teams meet again Saturday at 1 p.m. and wrap up the five-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lewiston. The games aren’t opened to the public.
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