Lewiston’s Madison Conley maneuvers the puck around Cheverus’ Abby Enck during Saturday night’s hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — Abby Lamontagne’s speed was on display all game, but when it mattered most she waited, and waited, and waited.
That patience paid off.
Lamontagne scored the game-winning goal in overtime for Cheverus/Kennebunk, to lift her team to a 4-3 win and hand Lewiston/Monmouth/Oak Hill its first defeat in a girls’ hockey clash at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday night.
Lamontagne grabbed a rebound of a shot that sent Blue Devils goalie Camree St. Hilaire to the ice and she waited for the goal to open up. When it did, she flipped a shot into the back of the net with 2:18 left in the extra session to secure the victory for the Stags (11-1).
“We’ve been doing this drill for the last week to 10 days because the girls were getting chances, and rather than showing a little poise, were just shooting the puck back into the pads,” Stags coach Scott Rousseau said. “So it was kind of fun to have that situation play out where Emma (McCauley) did a great job on the faceoff, along with Sophia (Pompeo) to get that opening, and for (Abby) to show that real poise was very satisfying.”
The Blue Devils (12-1) shocked the Stags in the first minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead. Freshman Madison Conley finished from Sara Robert. The pair hooked up again for a second Blue Devils goal just under 10 minutes in, with Conley feeding Robert, whose dump-in got past Stags goalie Anna Smith.
“The second goal was hard to take. That could have been a disaster in the making,” Rousseau said. “But, you know, the girls stayed patient and they showed a lot of composure, and understood that it was a long hockey game. I told them the next goal was everything.”
The Stags didn’t wait too long to answer, however. They went on their first power play within a minute and converted late in the man-advantage to cut the deficit to 2-1. Zoe Mazur’s point shot was deflected by McCauley and past Blue Devils goalie Camree St. Hilaire with 2:38 left in the first.
Momentum stayed with the visitors into the second period. Pompeo finished a give-and-go with Lamontagne to tie the game 3:29 into the frame.
“I think they were much of the time maybe a step ahead of us, and that gives them an advantage. And they’re big. They got some big kids who got long reach, so you can’t give them that extra step because they’re going to win that battle,” Blue Devils coach Ron Dumont said. “I think they were just getting there a little bit earlier, and so we were on our heels. We spent a lot of time in the defensive zone.”
Shots started flying by both teams, who each had unsuccessful power plays in the period, but the score stood at 2-2 heading into the deciding third period.
“I was real proud of the way the kids hung in there. They could have easily dropped their heads and said ‘well this is going to fall apart,’ and they didn’t,” Dumont said.
The intermission did the Blue Devils good. They came out stronger in the third than in the second, and Grace Dumond capitalized with a shot from the point that raced past Smith 5:30 into the period.
Lamontagne’s speed led to the game-tying goal with 1:26 left in regulation. She raced up the left boards on a counter attack before firing a shot past St. Hilaire.
“In transition, they’re very good,” Dumont said.
“She was very frustrated for a long part of the game because we couldn’t get open,” Rousseau said. “But she showed a lot of heart today to stay with it and stay with it and got rewarded late for sure.”
St. Hilaire stopped 31 of 35 shots for the Blue Devils. Smith made 21 saves.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston’s Sara Robert takes the puck around the back of the goal while Cheverus’ Hannah Woodford lags behind during Saturday night’s hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Katie Lemieux gets her stick on the puck as Cheverus’ Emma McCauley plays defense during Saturday night’s hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Lewiston’s Jordan Mynahan enters the play from the left. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Brie Dube hustles with the puck towards Cheverus’ Zoe Mazurduring Saturday night’s hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Sara Robert and Cheverus’ Hannah Woodford battle for control of the puck during Saturday night’s hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Veda Leclerc leaves Cheverus’ Terryn MacDonald on the ice as she eyes the best path past Cheverus’ goalie Anna Marie Smith during Saturday night’s hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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