LEWISTON — It may not have the intricacies of an NHL neutral-zone trap, the Leavitt/Edward Little’s first line of defense was just as effective Wednesday in the team’s first meeting of the season against rival Lewiston High School.

Both teams skated into the matchup with four shutouts and their defenses averaging fewer than a goal against per game.

The Red Hornets’ squad was better on this day.

Taylor Landry scored twice, Haley Frohlich added three assists and the Red Hornets held the Blue Devils to 14 total shots to lead Leavitt/Edward Little to a 3-2 victory over Lewiston at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“We played excellent team defense,” Leavitt/EL coach Shon Collins said. “All around, the girls really put in the work throughout the game to make sure of the loose pucks and opportunities, and executed what we had been asking of them in practice.”

The win is the fifth of the season for the Red Hornets (5-2), and the first game the team has won while allowing a goal.

“It speaks volumes to the team’s character,” Collins said. “We’ve proven that we can come out and win a (close) game like that. We didn’t get down on ourselves when they scored.”

Lewiston was averaging more than four goals per game prior to Wednesday, while allowing just two total goals against — both in a 7-2 win over Cheverus.

Leavitt/EL was averaging four goals per game and had allowed only four — two each in a pair of 2-1 losses to Scarborough and Greely.

The loss is the first of the season for the Blue Devils (5-1), though the Red Hornets were the first opponent with a winning record they’d faced.

“They’re a good team, and I don’t even look at the records because they’ve played different teams than we have,” Lewiston coach Ron Dumont said. “I think we had a little bit of a softer schedule coming in, and they’re deeper than most teams we’ve seen. They’re aggressive; they come at you. At times, we handled it OK, and at times, we just … I don’t know. You try to prepare for that, but I didn’t get them ready enough. You try to create that in practice, but it’s not the same.”

Savannah Shaw stopped 12 shots to earn the win. Paige Fontaine turned back 13 of 16 in the loss.

Emma Martineau delivered the first blow for the Red Hornets, pounding her own rebound past Fontaine 10:05 into the first period to put the visitors ahead 1-0.

The lead didn’t last long.

Erica Lemieux parked in front of Sanford and acted as a screen for Corinne Laberge, whose shot through traffic clipped Lemieux and deflected past the surprised Leavitt/EL keeper for the equalizer.

Another rebound gave the Red Hornets another chance to go ahead in the second. This time, Landry fished the puck from a pile in front on a shot by Haley Frohlich and popped it over Fontaine’s shoulder at the left post to again put Leavitt/EL in front.

“We’ve been working a lot on that, crashing the net,” Collins said. “What I’ve been telling them is, every rebound the goalie leaves sitting out front is a goal waiting to happen, and we’ve been challenging them to go in there and make it happen.”

Landry added her second at 7:04 of the third on a feed from behind the net by Frohlich, who found Landry alone in the low slot. The sniper redirected the pass into the far corner of the cage along the ice.

Allison Frechette made things interesting in the final minute with a wraparound goal with 52 seconds remaining. But the Blue Devils remained penned into their own zone or the center zone for the remainder of the contest.

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