Lewiston’s Jayden Wilson shoots and scores against Deering goalie Max Morrione during the second half of the Blue Devils’ 15-9 win in the Class A North quarterfinals at Garcelon Field on Tuesday. (Lee Horton/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — Lewiston distanced itself from Deering with a nine-goal second half and earned a 15-9 victory in a Class A boys’ lacrosse quarterfinal matchup.
Ball movement was a big contributor to Lewiston’s high-powered attack in Tuesday’s game. The Blue Devils assisted on 13-of-15 goals, with Sam Payne, Garret Poussard and Brayden Charest each setting up three scores.
“Offensively, we just wanted to keep our heads up and move the ball quick, move it to the weak side,” Lewiston coach Ben Fournier said. “We weren’t trying to force it. We tried to wait and get a good shot.”
Lewiston really separated from the Rams in the third quarter. After holding a 6-4 halftime lead, goalie Hunter Steele had a shutout quarter, while Jayden Wilson had two goals. Logan Michaud added a goal on the counter-attack, one of five on the day for the sophomore, this one originated from Wilson, and Sam Payne also had a goal in the third.
“We work out of our defense into our offense pretty quickly, and we try to quick-strike before they get a chance to set up, and that worked really well for us tonight,” Fournier said.
Fournier implemented a 1-3-2 zone on offense to counter Deering’s defense, and it worked out well for the Blue Devils.
“We executed it really well. We saw the pockets in between the zones and we spread them out and we kept on moving the ball,” Wade said. “We’re (Wilson and Wade) both lefties, so we are always on that same side.”
With about two-and-a-half minutes left in the quarter, Wade, a 100-plus career goal scorer, found a gunning Wilson from out behind the Deering net. Wilson, who also has 100-plus career goals, scored in front of goal to make it 10-4.
“We planned that play,” Wilson said. “It was part of the new system we put in. We wanted to try something and we made it work.”
In the fourth, each team scored five goals. Lewiston had another from a counter-attack and then later scored almost the same goal between Wade and Wilson, but with the roles reversed and Wade earning the goal.
For Deering, Omar Contreras scored a hat trick in the final quarter in an attempt to keep the Rams in the game, but the time ran out.
Just as quickly as the Blue Devils ran away with the lead, they got to work offensively to start the game.
Just three minutes into the game, Payne had the ball on the left side of the field and passed to Poussard in the middle. Poussard worked it across the field to Charest, who rifled a shot past Deering goalie Max Morrione for the opening goal. Just a minute later, Charest assisted on a Michaud goal.
Deering tied it quickly with goals from Nick James and Jonah Peterson, the latter assisted by James, who conducted the majority of the offense for the Rams.
At the end of the first quarter, following a Michaud goal, Wilson was on the sideline ready to enter the game with less than a minute left. Deering coaches pleaded from the side to their defenders to make sure they cover Wilson when he entered, but Wilson sprinted straight across the field, received the ball and ripped a pass to Charest for a goal to end the quarter.
Lewiston’s offense was stagnant in the second after two quick snipes from Wilson and Charest, as the Rams ran much of the possession. Deering earned two goals from Zach Harvey and Andrew James and almost had a few from Nick James, but he was stuffed three times by Lewiston goalie Hunter Steele on shot attempts coming from sprints behind the net.
Lewiston will hit the road to play Falmouth in a Class A semifinal on Saturday.
“We are going to try to ride the momentum into Falmouth and play a complete game,” Fournier said. “There were times where, Deering is a great team and they weren’t giving up and they’re go, go, go, so there were a few times we fell asleep and a few where we tried to force it.”
Lewiston’s Jaheim Whiting runs past Deering’s Payson Harvey during the Class A North quarterfinals at Garcelon Field on Tuesday. (Lee Horton/Sun Journal)
Deering’s Jason Pichette contends for a ground ball with Lewiston’s Gunnar Wade, left, and Logan Michaud during the Class A North quarterfinals at Garcelon Field on Tuesday. (Lee Horton/Sun Journal)
Lewiston’s Sam Payne and Logan Michaud celebrate a first-half goal as Deering’s Jason Pichette and Rardy Rarn look on during the Class A North quarterfinals at Garcelon Field on Tuesday. (Lee Horton/Sun Journal)
Lewiston’s Jayden Wilson gets past Deering’s Andrew James during the Class A North quarterfinals at Garcelon Field on Tuesday. (Lee Horton/Sun Journal)
Gunnar Wade of Lewiston works his way upfield against the defense of Deering’s Bailey Eide during the Class A North quarterfinals at Garcelon Field on Tuesday. (Lee Horton/Sun Journal)
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