Alex Rivet, center, seals the win for Lewiston with a third period goal that put the Blue Devils up 4-1 over St. Dom’s in Lewiston on Saturday.
LEWISTON — After being peppered all game long by shot after shot from rival Lewiston, St. Dominic Academy goalie Kyle Welsh was still the first player in line for the traditional playoff postgame handshake.
And to a player, he was met not with rivalry, but respect.
After 45 minutes of hard nosed hockey when St. Dom’s and Lewiston entered the hand shake line, the rivalry was put to the side.
Welsh fought off 51 off the 55 shots he faced Saturday as Lewiston earned a 4-1 win over the Saints in the Class A North semifinal matchup. But instead of handshakes, Welsh received hugs from the Blue Devils’ skaters.
“Kyle earned his keep,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “He’s been part of their program the last few years and it’s the least thing we can do. No one wants to lose — they certainly didn’t want to to lose — but we have to be respectful. You recognize a kid who has contributed a lot to local hockey, I tip my hat to him.”
It wasn’t the first time Welsh faced a lot of shots against the Blue Devils this season. He made 41 saves on Feb. 3, and 52 on Jan. 12, also losses.
St. Dom’s coach Bobby Parker said Welsh appeared ready before Saturday’s contest, and proved it in spades after the puck dropped.
“I thought Kyle played his best game in the two years I have been coaching here,” Parker said. “I was very proud of him. He made saves that other goalies would let pucks in. He did his job, we all did our job, it’s just that it’s very hard to generate offensive chances against a very good defensive team.”
The Saints only had 12 shots on goal against a Blue Devils team many have picked to repeat as state champion.
Welsh came out strong in the first period, stopping the first nine shots he saw.
But he couldn’t keep the Blue Devils down for the entire by period. Jean-Luc Dostie broke the ice and gave Lewiston a 1-0 lead at the 6:32 mark of the opening frame. Dustin Larochelle notched the lone assist.
Larochelle then put the final shot of the opening period behind Welsh when he blasted a shot from inside the left circle with nine-tenths of a second to play. Nick Bisson and Jeromey Rancourt were credited with assists after they were part of a mad scramble in front of Welsh before the puck squirted out to Larochelle.
Lewiston had a 23-3 shot advantage after one period.
“We talked about it between the first and second period, we didn’t stop,” Belleau said. “It would be easy for us to dump the puck in deep and let the period run out. Our kids didn’t quit and that was a big motivating thing we talked about.”
Belleau wasn’t concerned about the number of chances they missed in the first period, whether missed passes or one-timers. He would have been more concerned if they weren’t getting the chances.
Cody Doyon stretched the lead to 3-0 just past the four-minute mark of the second period.
“Our goaltending, defense and end zone coverage did our best, to be honest with you,” Parker said. “The shots may not show it, but the score of the game did.”
Connor Samson kept the Saints within striking distance as he jammed the puck home past Lewiston goalie Jacob Strout. It was the Saints’ sixth shot of the game at the 12:51 mark of the second period.
The goal was reviewed but quickly confirmed by the off-ice official.
St. Dom’s had a golden chance on the power play in third period as Joe Bisson went off for slashing Welsh. The Saints had four shots on Strout during the two-minute power play, and they were Strout’s four best saves of the game.
“We were very close, if you look at the shots, Jacob Strout didn’t see very many of them,” Parker said. “The ones he did see, they seemed to be a little bit tougher from a goalie’s perspective. A lot of them were close to the goal line.”
Larochelle notched his third point of the contest when he assisted on Alex Rivet’s goal with 2:45 left to play in the contest.
The win moves Lewiston to the regional final where it will face Bangor on Tuesday night. Bangor defeated Cony/Hall-Dale/Monmouth 2-1 earlier in the afternoon.
St. Dominic goalie Kyle Welsh sends a shot by Jeromey Rancourt wide during the second period in Lewiston on Saturday.
Cody Doyon (21) celebrates with his Lewiston teammates after scoring a second period goal to put the Blue Devils up 3-0 over St. Dom’s on Saturday.
Cody Doyon sneaks the puck past St. Dom’s goalie Kyle Welsh and into the top of the net to put the Blue Devils up 3-0 during the second period on Saturday.
Sam Blaisdell of St. Dom’s holds Cody Doyon of Lewiston during the second period in Lewiston on Saturday. Blaisdell was called for a two-minute minor penalty.
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