Lewiston’s Cody Doyon watches his deflected shot bounce off the mask of Bangor goalie Derek Fournier during Tuesday’s regional final hockey championship game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston where the Blue Devils advanced to this weekend’s state championship with a 6-0 victory over the Rams.Lewiston’s Alex Robert celebrates as the puck bounces off the back of the net after scoring a goal on Bangor goalie Derek Fournier during the Blue Devils’ shutout victory to advance to this weekend’s state championship game.
LEWISTON — In hockey, replays giveth, and replays taketh away.
Nothing, though — least of all a replay — could take away Lewiston’s regional crown.
Not Bangor, nor an official’s review, either.
The Blue Devils won their second consecutive Class A North boys’ hockey title Tuesday night, skating past the Rams 6-0 at Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Top-seeded Lewiston (19-1) was already up 1-0 in the first when a potential second goal went to the replay booth.
The no-goal call on the ice was upheld.
Another review of a non-goal five minutes later was overturned, giving defenseman Ryan Bossie a goal and the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead 11 minutes into the contest.
“I saw the puck sitting there, I saw that it was just sitting there, so I ran in, skated in, touched it in for the goal,” Bossie said.
“The second goal kind of took our life away, after it was a no call and all of a sudden they radio upstairs and they call it a goal,” Bangor coach Quinn Paradis said. “It kind of got us off-guard.”
No replay was needed when Joe Bisson scored his second goal of the first period with 51.2 seconds left, and Lewiston skated into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead, as well as a 17-0 advantage in shots on goal.
“We knew we needed to get more pucks to the net, which we didn’t do today,” Paradis said.
The second-seeded Rams (12-8) finally put a shot on net in the first minute of the second period, but much of the frame focused on the other end of the ice, where Bangor senior goalie Derek Fournier did everything he could to keep his team in it. Fournier denied Bisson on a breakaway at the midway point of the period, among other, acrobatic saves.
“Derek’s been a fixture in that program for the last three or four years and so we knew what we were going to get,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “We have an approach we like to take with him, and the kids executed it and they were able to get some by him.”
Fournier couldn’t keep Lewiston quiet for long in the second. Jean-Luc Dostie got the Blue Devils back on the scoreboard with just under five minutes left in the period on a rebound of a Nick Bisson shot.
“The dirty goals are very important because the first shot’s hard to get by him, so you have to get the rebound goals,” Bossie said.
Alex Robert made it 5-0 with 1:29 remaining in the second, converting a one-timer from Bossie on a power play.
Robert scored another special teams goal to cap off the scoring in the third, converting on a shorthanded attempt, with assists from Sam Frechette and Brad McLellan.
Fournier stopped 35 of 41 shots in his final high school game.
“He played phenomenal his final game. That’s what we were hoping for,” Paradis said. “We couldn’t get the offense today. Their defense was so strong that when we went into the zone that they were blocking shots or kicking shots, and they weren’t getting to the net.”
Lewiston goalie Jacob Strout made 10 saves, with seven of those coming in the second period.
“That’s team defense,” Belleau said.
“Our defense don’t get credit as much as we should,” Bossie said.
Paradis made sure to give Lewiston plenty of credit for winning another regional crown, and in dominant fashion.
“They’re tough. It’s one of those things, you have to find a way to beat Lewiston in Lewiston,” Paradis said. “It’s tough. They are very good. They’re the best team I’ve seen in years.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston hockey players celebrate thier 6-0 victory over Bangor to capture the regional championship Tuesday night.The LHS Blue Devil hockey team celebrates their Class A North Championship after a 6-0 victory over BangorLewiston captain Jeromey Rancourt hoists the championship plaque after beating Bangor 6-0 to earn a return trip to the state championship game this weekend.Bangor goalie Derek Fournier makes a save off a breakaway on Lewiston’s Joe Bisson during Tuesday’s championship gameLewiston’s Cody Doyon watches his deflected shot bounce off the mask of Bangor goalie Derek Fournier during Tuesday’s regional final hockey championship game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston where the Blue Devils advanced to this weekend’s state championship with a 6-0 victory over the Rams.
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