ORONO – The gritty third-year Houlton-Hodgdon Black Hawks were holding held their own against the once-beaten Orono High School Red Riots for the first 12 minutes.

But late first period goals 17 seconds apart by Paul Pangburn and Mike Merritt extended the lead to 3-0 and the Riots went on to post a convincing 8-0 victory in their Eastern Maine Northeastern Division Class B semifinal at Alfond Arena Wednesday night.

Orono’s all-senior line of Pat Skall between left wing Will Toner and right wing Merritt teamed up for seven goals and six assists.

Skall had four goals and two assists, Merritt had two goals and an assist and Toner racked up a goal and three assists.

Toner’s shorthanded goal five minutes into the second period and Skall’s two goals later in the period broke the game open.

Orono, 20-1, takes on Winslow in a divisional crossover semifinal Saturday at 5:30 or 8:30 p.m. at Winslow’s Sukee Arena.

Houlton-Hodgdon finished up at 8-14.

“We played a good, solid game,” said Toner. “We tried a few new things with our systems and they worked well tonight.”

Skall said the Riots wanted to create a fast tempo and succeeded.

“We moved our feet and played aggressively,” said Skall.

Houlton-Hodgdon senior center Brandon Carmichael said, “Orono has a great team. They don’t have any weak lines. Those first-period goals [17 seconds apart] killed us.”

Black Hawks coach David Wilson said his team “didn’t skate” or win any of the one-on-one battles.

Skall had opened the scoring 5:15 into the game before Pangburn scored at the 12:03 mark and Merritt followed.

On Pangburn’s goal, Griff Lambert cut from left to right across the low slot and when H-H goalie Ryan Blanchette tried unsuccessfully to poke-check him, the puck slid away from him.

But Lambert chased down the loose puck and threw it across to the far post where Pangburn deposited it into the vacant net.

Orono broke down the ice on the ensuing center-ice faceoff and generated several shots during a wild scramble.

As Blanchette tried to get a handle on the loose puck, Skall poked it free and Merritt roofed it from the crease.

The Riots had opened the scoring thanks to a nice individual effort by Toner.

Toner skated down the right wing and shoveled a one-handed shot on goal. In the ensuing battle for the puck, Skall swatted it behind Blanchette from the low slot.

Toner’s shorthander in the second period came on a breakaway after the puck glanced off the boards around a Blackhawk defenseman in the offensive zone.

“I faked a shot and he [Blanchette] went for it. I pulled it around him on the backhand,” said Toner.

Skall made it 5-0 4:17 later when he converted on the power play as Branislav Srnka fed him a short diagonal pass across the top of the crease and he snapped it into the half-empty net.

Skall notched his third with a 15-footer through the pads from the middle of the slot with 1:27 left in the middle period.

Houlton-Hodgdon outshot Orono 11-6 in the second period with the Black Hawk line of Jared Sylvia between brothers Ben Carton and Kevin Carton generating several good opportunities.

But Riot goalie Casey Hale was sharp and denied them.

Merritt and Skall added third-period goals.

Hale finished with 24 saves in posting his second shutout of the season. Blanchette had 23 stops.

“I just tried to stay on my angles. And we all played as a team,” said Hale.

RED RIOTS 8, BLACK HAWKS 0

Houlton-Hodgdon (8-14) 3 3 2 – 8

Orono (20-1) 0 0 0 – 0

First period – 1. Orono, Skall (Toner, Merritt), 5:15; 2. Orono, Pangburn (Lambert), 12:03; 3. Orono, Merritt (Skall), 12:20. Penalties: HH, Clark, tripping, 9:04; Orono, Merritt, roughing, 12:40; HH, K. Carton, roughing, 12:40; Orono, Ferguson, roughing, 14:35.

Second period – 4. Orono, Toner (unassisted), 5:00 (sh); 5. Orono, Skall (Srnka, Toner), 9:17 (pp); 6. Orono, Skall (unassisted), 13:33. Penalties: Orono, Caggiano, tripping, 3:34; HH, B. Carmichael, checking the goalie, 5:59; Orono, Ferguson, hitting after the whistle, 5:59; HH, Bither, holding, 8:11; Orono, Dwyer, charging, 10:19; Orono, Srnka, hitting from behind and 10-min. misconduct, 11:26; Orono, Ferguson, roughing, 12:05; HH, Clark, cross-checking, 12:05.

Third period – 7. Orono, Merritt (Skall), :07; 8. Orono, Skall (Caggiano, Toner), 1:44 (pp). Penalties: HH, Bassi, tripping, 1:33; HH, Clark, holding, 3:34; Orono, Merritt, roughing, 6:59; HH, Clark, tripping, 11:47; HH, Austin, hitting from behind and 10-min. misconduct, 12:24.

Shots on goal: HH 6-11-7-24; Orono 15-6-10-31

Goaltenders: Houlton-Hodgdon, Blanchette (31 shots-23 saves); Orono, Hale (24-24)

Power-play opportunities: HH 0-5; Orono 2-6

Attendance: 300 (est.)