Lewiston celebrates scoring a goal with teammates winning the Class A Championships Saturday night in Lewiston at the Colisee.
LEWISTON — Seconds anyone?
After an even first period, Lewiston dominated the second period and won its second straight Class A state championship, beating Falmouth 6-2 at Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday.
The Blue Devils (20-1) began the second period a man down, but they soon found themselves a goal up. A 5-on-4 Falmouth man advantage soon turned into 4-on-4 hockey, then a Lewiston power play. Senior defenseman Cole Ouellette took advantage of some extra space on the ice, skating through the Yachtsmen (16-4-1) defense before beating a helpless Spencer Pierce all alone 1:34 into the middle period.
“I do that move every day in practice, so I just tried it,” Ouellette said. “You got to try it and see how it goes.”
That wasn’t the only way the Blue Devils found to beat Pierce, who stopped all 10 shots he faced on the first period. Alex Robert made it 2-0 just over four minutes into the second after he found a rebound of a Nick Bisson point shot and put it into an open net.
Lewiston converted another rebound on yet another power play (its third of four in the period) when Alex Rivet buried a loose puck off Jeromey Rancourt’s shot with four minutes left in the second.
“Your youth shows,” Falmouth coach Deron Barton said. “They’re just a powerhouse team, they’re well-coached, they have incredible talent. When you come up against that, you almost have to be perfect. Maturity shows itself, and they capitalized and made us pay for our mistakes.”
The Yachtsmen went more than 11 minutes without putting a shot on goal in the second while the Blue Devils were putting three pucks in. After Lewiston senior goalie Jacob Strout stopped a Reece Armitage point shot and a Brendan Hickey rebound during a Falmouth power play 30 seconds in, it wasn’t until Theo Hembre flipped a shot at Strout with 3:15 left in the period until the Yachtsmen broke up the dry spell.
“They played a great defensive game,” Barton said. “We didn’t pressure them the way that we had in the past, and the longer that went on the tougher it got for us to get any shots on net.”
Falmouth put just six shots on frame through two periods, and Strout’s biggest save came in the final minute of the first. Robbie Armitage ripped a shot from the slot during a power play, but Strout flashed his glove to make the save and keep the game scoreless heading into the first intermission.
“The Armitages (Robbie and Reece), they’re both great, they’re both great hockey players. But early in the game, any big save is key, and I was just fortunate enough to save it,” Strout said.
The Blue Devils held a 10-3 edge in shots on goal through the first 15 minutes, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.
“Obviously we would have liked to have gone up a goal in the first, but we had a lot of puck possession time in the first period, we had a lot of shots on net. I thought the quality of our shots weren’t very good,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “We really needed to get people to the paint. We really needed to get some traffic in front of their goalie, and I think that was the emphasis between the first and the second.”
Falmouth had nothing to show on offense through two periods, save for a few quality shots, and the Yachtsmen trailed 3-0. But the lone team to beat Lewiston this season had been in that position before.
“The message was, ‘Look, we’ve been here before and we’ve come out of this before. We’ve got the resources in the room to do it, and we just got to come out and make it happen,'” Barton said. “That was the message, and we were positive. We certainly were not thinking we were out of the game.”
Lewiston ended any thoughts of a comeback within the first five minutes of the third period. Ouellette scored his second goal to make it 4-0, finishing off a give-go-give with Cody Doyon 3:44 in.
“That fourth goal was big,” Belleau said. “Cole’s a game-breaker. Every player’s got certain roles. Cole’s got a role. He’s a defenseman, but he can change a game in a single shift, and he did that tonight.”
Junior captain Joe Bisson made it 5-0 just 37 seconds later, and senior captain Rancourt tallied the Blue Devils’ final goal exactly two minutes after that.
“We just stuck to our game plan,” Rancourt said. “Every time we were up, we just went back to thinking it was a 0-0 game. Don’t let the score trigger your mind.”
The Yachtsmen scored twice in the final four-plus minutes — on goals by Robbie Armitage (shorthanded) and Brendan Hickey — to end Strout’s shutout bid, but a championship comeback wasn’t in the cards.
Pierce stopped 34 of 40 shots for Falmouth, while Strout ended his career with a 12-save effort and a second championship win.
“There’s a lot of pressure put on the kids after they had the team that won last year,” Belleau said. “Anything short of getting back here — and obviously we wanted to win, but anything short of getting back here would have been a disappointment.
“I said one thing before the game today, I said, ‘Hard work is going to get us to where we want to be.’ When you skate hard, and you combine that with some talented players, it’s a good recipe for success. And that’s all on them because when you fall asleep at the wheel, sometimes the most talented teams don’t get the job done. Their work ethic is a critical component.”
“These guys have put the blood, sweat and tears into everything, and they know the sacrifices you have to make,” Rancourt said.
After waiting 14 years to get title No. 21 — including a 4-0 loss to Falmouth in 2013 — the Blue Devils were able to go back-to-back for the first time since 1992-93 to capture title No. 22.
And with a second win over Falmouth this season, a dominant Lewiston team proved that it was second to no one this season.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston’s Cole Ouellette sneaks a puck past Famouth’s goalie Spencer Pierce during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s hockey team pounds on the glass at their classmates after winning the Class A 2017 Championship title at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Rivet controls the puck as he looks to a pass while Falmouth’s Louis Mainella tries to get a stick into the action during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Ryan Bossie shoots a puck past Falmouth’s Louis Mainella in front of an attentive bench during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Rivet controls the puck around the back of the net while being chased by Falmouth’s Reece Armitage during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s hockey team celebrates after winning the Class A 2017 Championship title at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Robert keeps his eye on the goal as he is pursued by Falmouth’s Liam P. Wyatt during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Robert battles for the puck with Falmotuh’s Robert Armitage during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Falmouth’s Garrett Tracey slams Lewiston’s Cody Doyon during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
All eyes are on the puck as Lewiston’s Jeromey Rancourt chases downt he puck during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston celebrates scoring a goal with teammates during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston celebrates scoring a goal with teammates during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Rivet controls the puck as Falmouth’s Reece Armitage tries to get a stick into the action during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Rivet fires a puck past Falmouth’s Garrett Tracey during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Jean-Luc Dostie stumbles and looks to the puck with Falmouth’s Garrett Tracey during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
Lewiston’s Alex Rivet points a finger playfully at the Falmouth goalie, Spencer Pierce, after scoring a goal during the Class A Championship game at the Colisee in Lewiston Saturday night.
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