Marco Giancotti of Cheverus High School controls the puck following a face off between Sam Frechette and Justin Ray of Cheverus during the second period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — A team can learn a lot from losing.
The Cheverus boys’ hockey team did just that after becoming the 20th team in a row to lose to Lewiston two weeks ago.
The Stags took the lessons learned from that setback and used them to their advantage, playing stout defense to end the defending Class A champion Blue Devils’ 22-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory at Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday.
“I just think we had more of a sense of urgency,” Cheverus coach Dan Lucas said. “The last game they took it to us pretty good, 5-1. They’re a good, strong skating team, they’re strong on their sticks, they play deep, and we wanted to come out and try to play stronger on our sticks and try to push in their zone a little bit, and try to not let them get their legs going through the middle of the ice.
“Kept it tight, and I think at the end of the day it could have gone either way, but it was a good game, so we’ll take it.”
Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau also noted a sense of urgency, and he said his team didn’t have it. He said the Blue Devils (10-1) came out flat, and the Stags (7-2-1) pounced on that slow start.
Cheverus went on the power play six minutes in, and just over seven minutes into the game, the Stags scored. Mike Hatch’s shot from the point was stopped by Lewiston goalie Conrad Albert, but Luke Church was all alone at the right circle to put the rebound in.
“It was huge,” Hatch said. “Beginning of the game, I said we need a big play, a big hit, an early goal to go up. We got on the power play, we ended up finishing a good goal.”
The Blue Devils didn’t get their first shot on goal until the midway point of the period, and they finished with just three on-target tries in the first.
“I thought even if we could keep them under 10 per period, I thought we would give ourselves a chance, if we stayed strong on going towards their zone, and we were able to do that,” Lucas said. “We were much better at clearing the pucks in front of our net this game than we were the last game.”
Lewiston finally came alive early in the second, thanks to a power play of its own. It took the Blue Devils just 16 seconds with a man-advantage to tie the game. Ryan Bossie’s point shot made it through traffic and past Cheverus goalie Colby Benway 3:45 in. Sam Frechette and Alex Robert had the assists.
Frechette rang a shot off the crossbar less than two minutes later, and the puck going out of bounds was the whistle the Blue Devils needed to start another power play. However, the Stags hunkered down the second time around, allowing a single Bossie shot and nothing else for the two minutes to keep the game tied.
Hatch said the key to the penalty kill was playing more aggressive.
“Get pucks out as soon as we get to them,” he said. “Skate hard to every puck in the corners and win the little battles.”
The 1-1 tie stood heading into the third. Lewiston had just 10 shots on goal to its credit through two periods, an uncharacteristically low number, according to Belleau.
“They were very good defensively. They always had three or four guys back, so we didn’t really get many odd-man rushes,” Belleau said. “And I thought we tried to move to the middle too much, too quick, and I think that played into their hands. We could have kept to the outside, set it up and did a little more give-and-gos down low.”
Hatch said the Stags were “very confident” heading into the third, and a talk by coaches during the intermission got the players “all hyped up.”
They seized that energy and took back the lead 1:50 into the third. Cam Dube wrapped around the left post and slid a pass across the crease to the right side, where Jackson Wilson was there to beat a still-sliding Albert for the game-winner.
“We stayed hungry and that second goal was a hard-working goal,” Lucas said. “We had bodies around the net, just like they did against us the first game.”
Benway wasn’t on the ice for that first game, instead watching senior classmate Jason Halvorsen take the loss. Lucas said that outcome didn’t factor into Benway starting Wednesday night, that it was just his turn in the normal rotation.
Benway made the most of his opportunity, and in the third period he was stellar, stopping all 14 shots Lewiston sent at him.
“One of the best games I’ve ever seen him play,” Hatch said. “He played absolutely unreal, made the saves when he needed to do.”
Bossie blasted a shot off the post with 1:50 left, then Benway stopped an open shot by Evan Cox with a minute to go. Another shot 10 seconds later knocked him off-balance, but the puck floated away from the net area.
Albert was pulled with 40 seconds to play, but the extra skater didn’t make a difference in the end. A Cheverus defense that denied all game long did it once more in the final seconds, not allowing Lewiston an opportunity by pressing the puck along the boards until the clock struck zero.
“By far our best period was the third, and their goalie came up big in the third,” Belleau said. “And they were holding on, and they did a good job, and you got to tip your hat off to them.”
Belleau was ready for his Blue Devils to move on after their first loss in 53 weeks.
“You never want to lose a game, you go in to win every game, but you can learn from losing a game, and that’s what we’ll hope to do,” he said.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Colin Doherty, left, of Cheverus High School and Chad Lynch of Lewiston dig a puck out of the corner during the second period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Sam Frechette of Lewiston picks up a pass to a Blue Devil teammate while being pressured by Colin Doherty of Cheverus High School during the first period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Chad Lynch of Lewiston High School looks up the ice during the first period of Lewiston’s game against Cheverus on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Evan Cox, center, of Lewiston High School skates away from the Cheverus goalie after the goal was knocked loose during the second period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Matthew Pollini, left, of Cheverus High School and Gunnar Wade of Lewiston compete for the puck during the second period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
Send questions/comments to the editors.
