South Kingstown forward Tyler Murray, front, tangles with Narragansett defenseman Tanner Littlefield along the boards. Click here to see a gallery of game photos.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The South County clash continues for another day.

On the brink of elimination after letting a three-goal lead slip away in Game One on Saturday night, Narragansett took an early lead and did a better job of protecting it, cruising to an 8-2 victory over South Kingstown in the R.I. Interscholastic Division III finals of the Cox Sports Hockey Championships, last night at URI’s Boss Arena.

“Definitely, you get a little negativity when you lose, but then you just think, ‘It’s a new day,’ ” said junior forward Matthew Westcott, who racked up five goals and assisted on another for the Mariners to help force another game in the best-of-three series that will be played tonight at 7:30, at Boss Arena.

“They’ve been stretching us out all season. I guess we went into the game thinking we’ve got to beat them sometime. We were 0-2-1 against them and you go into it thinking you don’t have a tomorrow if you don’t win.”

Narragansett implemented some changes to its defense during yesterday’s pregame skate to maintain a tempo that is more to the Mariners’ liking, coach Chris Lussier said.

“We just kind of made some adjustments to what (the Rebels) were capitalizing on Saturday night,” he said. “And I thought we were able to clog the neutral zone a lot better tonight to limit their opportunities. We had a couple breakdowns early for them to get back in the game, but other than that, I thought, defensively, the system allowed us to protect (goalie) Tyler [Basile] like we have all season and obviously give us the edge.”

Meanwhile, Reilly Loomis got things rolling for Narragansett at the other end, netting the first goal of his high school career off an assist from senior Richard Quan at 7:50 of the first period.

Westcott followed with his first tally to put the Mariners up, 2-0.

South Kingstown senior forward Kyle Vandemoer quickly answered with back-to-back goals to even the score. But Westcott struck again with 55 seconds remaining in the period to put Narragansett back on top.

After a scoreless second period, the Mariners carried a one-goal lead into the third, like they did in Game One.

This time, however, they responded differently. Instead of giving up three goals as it did the other night, Narragansett exploded for five of its own over the final 15 minutes, squashing any hope of a Rebels comeback.

How did the Mariners prepare this time around?

“We just listened to music to get us pumped up for the third period,” said Westcott, who scored three of the goals, while Brian Sullivan and Corey Fossa each contributed one. “Not thinking about the game as much and just going out and having fun. We had fun tonight and that’s what you’ve got to do to win a game, I think.”

Narragansett simply performed better in every aspect of the game, conceded South Kingstown coach Toby Gibbons.

“There’s not much to say. They were better,” he said. “They out skated us. They out hit us. They outplayed us. They moved the puck better. They wanted it more. No questions asked, they earned every break they got.”

Now both teams say they must put the events of Saturday and last night behind them.

“I think the pressure’s on both of us,” said Lussier. “One game left. You don’t win it, you don’t win the state championship. You win it, you get a banner right up on the wall over there.”

 First period — N, Reilly Loomis (Richard Quan) 7:50, Matt Westcott (Tanner Littlefield) 9:32 (pp); SK, Kyle Vandemoer (Bob Maione) 10:42, Vandemoer (Maione, Jon Gorman) 12:22; N, Westcott (Littlefield) 14:05. Penalties — SK 1-2.

 Second period — no scoring. Penalties — SK 1-2; N 1-2.

 Third period — N, Westcott (una.) :39, Westcott (Corey Fossa) 3:06, Brian Sullivan (Westcott) 7:06, Westcott (Littlefield) 10:18 (pp), Fossa (Cole Wagner) 12:17. Penalties SK 1-2; N 1-2.

 Saves — Tyler Basile, N, 16; Joe Caparelli, SK, 16, Brad Hathaway, SK, 5. A— 1,038.

cthorn@projo.com