In those 14 seconds, Lewiston’s slumped shoulders started to rise, the Blue Devils’ spirits brightened and they began to believe in a comeback.
Seven goals turned to six, then five, four and three by halftime.
With 4:29 to play in the second half, Kristina Blais put the punctuation mark on the comeback with a spinning goal from the right side to lift the Blue Devils to an 11-10 girls’ lacrosse victory over the Shipbuilders at Don Roux Field.
“They had a great game plan and they executed really well early,” Lewiston coach Skip Capone said. “We really didn’t have an answer. Then, we got a couple goals, the girls started to feel that sense of urgency. All of a sudden, the ball started rolling.”
Equally as important in the second half as Blais’ three goals (she finished with five overall) were four saves by Fontaine, three on free balls from inside the 8-yard line.
“You don’t often, in hockey, have penalty shots, but in lacrosse, you have free shots all the time,” Fontaine said. “It’s scary.”
“The hardest one was the last one, where the girl was right in front,” Capone said. “And she passed it. The others were on an angle more. From the second hash to the first hash, (Fontaine) has a chance. She has no fear.”
Lewiston first completed its comeback on an Emily Brochu strike with 17:40 to play which gave the home team its first lead of the night at 9-8.
The lead lasted about six minutes, until Morse’s Sophie Sreden wheeled and fired in front on a nifty pass from Maddy Olsen to knot things at 9-9.
Lauren Lecompte made it 10-9 on a free ball in front of the cage, but the Shipbuilders wouldn’t quit. Paige Daigle knotted the game again with 7:47 to play as she sliced through the middle and relayed a pass from Noa Sreden into the cage.
After a draw control win — Lewiston dominated in that department Tuesday — the Devils slowed things down on offense.
“We probably had three-quarters of the draws today,” Capone said. “That’s something we haven’t done as well, and it’s something we’ll keep working on, because that’s something that’s critical. As the game went along, we just kept getting better at them.”
Ultimately the Devils got the ball to Blais down low on the right side. Spotting an opening, she spun to the front and forced it over the Morse keeper for the winning score.
At the other end, for the final four minutes, Fontaine watched the clock.
“I was counting down, for sure.” Fontaine said. “We are a comeback team more than we are a beginning team, so I was wasn’t all that nervous early, I figured we’d pick it up at some point. It was more nerve-wracking when it was 11-10.”
The second half was as stunning to Morse as the first, for very different reasons. The Shipbuilders shot out of the gate, and could do no wrong.
“That first half was probably our best first half of the year,” Morse coach Linda Levesque said.
“Oh yeah, and then I think the momentum shifted and fatigue set in for us,” coach Jessica Avery added. “We don’t have a deep bench for our middies.”
“We tried to force it a little too much in the first half,” Capone said. “Kristina did a couple of times, as did Emily. You get a little frustrated. We needed to get the defense moving a little bit. I think in the first half, we just got the ball and went to goal.”
As Morse shut the Devils down on defense, the visitors’ offense was clicking. Sophie Sreden netted three goals, Olsen and Daigle each had a pair and Amanda Gagne added another in the opening half as the Devils could only counter with a single Blais tally in the first 17 minutes.
“Their defense plays hard, and they play physical,” Blais said. “They’re good at drawing forces and making us give up the ball.”
“I don’t know if they grabbed the momentum? I don’t know if (we) slacked off? Possession is big,” Levesque said. “Lewiston is a run-and-gun-type team, and they’ll take it to goal and get it to goal, and we got some good stops. But our offense is more patient, and as we were saying, we don’t score that much. Eight-to-one was a big surprise to us. We haven’t been in that situation.”
Allison Frechette started the Devils’ comeback with 7:39 to play in the first half. Brochu, Dacia Bail and Blais joined the party, pulling Lewiston within three at 8-5 at halftime.
The Blue Devils finish their regular season with a game against top-ranked Messalonskee on Tuesday, while Morse hosts Bonny Eagle on Monday and Oceanside on Wednesday, June 3.
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