ORONO – With only 11 skaters and two goalies, Orono High School hockey coach Greg Hirsch hoped his Red Riots could use a trap to conserve energy and claw out a 3-2 or 2-1 win.

Instead, his Riots erupted for eight goals, including four in the third period, to stun the Raiders 8-3 at Alfond Arena Thursday night.

Senior left wing Will Toner, who transferred to Orono from Bangor’s John Bapst High School last season, had the first four-goal game of his schoolboy career and also had two assists to power the Riots to the season-opening win.

“This feels real good,” said Toner. “And to beat a team you have a rivalry with like Winslow gives you confidence.”

“We used a trap for a lot of the game and we were able to create chances off their turnovers,” added Toner. “And we still had our legs in the third period.”

Winslow (2-1) had more puck possession, especially through the first two periods, but Orono capitalized on numerous Raider defensive breakdowns. Orono also created several odd-man rushes thanks to Winslow’s overaggressive forechecking.

“Winslow has always been offensive-minded, so we told our guys just to chip the puck out of the [defensive] zone,” said Hirsch.

The Riots had a huge edge in special teams play as they went 3-for-4 on the power play while killing off all six Winslow power plays, including a two-man advantage in the second period that spanned 1:30.

Toner and Mark Caggiano staked the Riots to a 2-0 lead with goals 2:53 apart in the first period and, after the first of two Evan Smith goals for Winslow, senior right winger Mike Merritt scored the first of his two goals.

Toner is on a line with Merritt and senior center Pat Skall.

Smith cut the lead to 3-2 in the second period before Toner regained the two-goal advantage with 1:48 remaining in the period.

“That was the big goal in the game,” said Hirsch. “We had gone away from the trap to put more pressure on Winslow, but it really tired our guys out, so we went back to the trap and Will scored.”

The Riots had a two-on-one with Skall and Toner, and Skall got two opportunities to feed it across to Toner as his first attempt hit a Winslow defenseman’s stick.

“I think it caught the goalie off guard because the first pass was blocked. All I had to do was bury it,” said Toner, who chipped it past Winslow goalie Tim Cloutier from 8 feet out.

Orono broke the game open with three goals in the first 4:54 of the third period as Slovakian exchange student Branislav Srnka, Merritt (power play), and Toner extended the lead to 7-2.

Winslow’s Chris Langlais and Toner added consolation goals.

Srnka scored off a great feed from Caggiano, who kicked it to him from the side of the net.

“The left side was open and I shot it quick. The goalie touched it [with his glove],” said Srnka, whose shot carried into the net.

Merritt scored on the power play when Toner’s pass landed on his stick at the bottom of the right circle and he roofed it over the stacked pads of Cloutier.

Only 19 seconds later, Skall fed Toner in front for the 7-2 lead.

Toner opened the game’s scoring with a power-play slap shot from the middle of the high slot as he beat the screened Cloutier high to the glove side.

Caggiano scored from a near-impossible angle as he swept a low wrist shot that squeezed under Cloutier’s stick.

Smith got one back with a one-timer off a Scott Grenier pass, but Merritt answered with a short wrister off a Toner pass.

Smith again converted a Grenier pass with a one-timer at the 5:12 mark of the second period, but that would be as close as Winslow would get.

“We have three of our top four scorers back off last year’s team, so we didn’t think offense would be a problem. We were concerned about our defense, but they really stepped up tonight,” said Toner, referring to Paul Pangburn, Evan James, and Joey Fullwood.

Freshman goalie Nate Faulstick had an impressive debut with 17 saves. Cloutier finished with 11 for Winslow.

RED RIOTS 8, RAIDERS 3

Winslow (2-1) 1 1 1 ? 3

Orono (1-0) 3 1 4 ? 8

First period ? 1. Orono, Toner (Merritt, Srnka), 7:13 (pp); 2. Orono, Caggiano (Dwyer), 10:06; 3. Winslow, Smith (Grenier, Dorval), 10:22; 4. Orono, Merritt (Toner, Skall), 13:16. Penalties: Orono, Dwyer, slashing, 1:09; Winslow, Buxton, elbowing, 6:15.

Second period ? 5. Winslow, Smith (Grenier, Carter), 5:12; 6. Orono, Toner (Skall, James), 13:12. Penalties: Orono, Dwyer, interference, 2:07; Orono, Fullwood, tripping, 2:37; Orono, Dwyer, high sticking, 10:07; Winslow, Buxton, unsportsmanlike conduct, 10:07; Orono, Skall, interference, 14:37.

Third period ? 7. Orono, Srnka (Caggiano, Dwyer), 2:46; 8. Orono, Merritt (Toner, James), 4:35 (pp); 9. Orono, Toner (Skall), 4:54; 10.Winslow, Langlais (Dorval, Bickford), 7:26; 11. Orono, Toner (Srnka), 9:22 (pp). Penalties: Winslow, Ellis, holding, 4:23; Orono, James, boarding, 5:33; Winslow, interference, 8:05; Orono, Caggiano, cross checking, 11:33; Winslow, Gomane, holding, 14:34.

Shots on goal: Orono 5-4-10?19; Winslow 7-6-7?20

Goalies: Orono, Faulstick (20 shots-17 saves); Winslow, Cloutier (19-11)

Power-play Opportunities: Orono 3 of 4, Winslow 0 of 6

Attendance: 150 (est).