Half of the 10 girls’ hockey state championships since the sport was first sanctioned by the Maine Principals’ Association have been won by either Lewiston or St. Dominic Academy, but only once in those those 10 years did the Blue Devils and Saints ever meet in a regional final with a state championship game berth on the line.
The two cross-river rivals — whose boys’ hockey counterparts have a long, storied history of big-time playoff meetings — will finally face off for a second time in a regional championship game Thursday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Yarmouth Freeport’s Kyaira Grondin, left, tris to prevent Lewiston’s Brie Dube, center jump on a rebound from a save by Yarmouth/Freeport goalie Allie Perrotta at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston during Saturday night’s girls’ hockey game between Lewiston High School and Yarmouth/Freeport on February 9, 2019. (Sun Journal photo by Russ Dillingham)
The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was pushed back a day because of the storm that started Tuesday and was expected to extend into Wednesday.
The first meeting happened in the second year of MPA-sanctioned play, when the defending state champion Blue Devils beat St. Dom’s in the 2010 Eastern regional final before falling to eventual state champ Cheverus. The Saints won the state title the next year.
Lewiston last won the state title in 2015, before the Saints followed with back-to-back championships. Greely/Gray-New Gloucester then knocked both programs off (first St. Dom’s, then the Blue Devils) en route to last year’s state championship.
Both teams are playing as well as any team entering the North regional final.
The Blue Devils are 19-0, while the Saints are 10-1-2 since suffering a mid-season rout at the hands of Lewiston. Only another loss to the Blue Devils and ties against South finalists Scarborough and Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach have blemished St. Dom’s late-season run.
Third-seeded Saints coach Paul Gosselin said he doesn’t see his team as an underdog in the matchup, however.
“I think our improvement has been forthright. I think that we’ve worked really hard,” Gosselin said. “We’ve got a bunch of skilled players. I think I probably have one of the best two forward combinations in the state, and I’ve got some good defense and a good goalie.
“We got here because we played well, and we’re working hard, and I think that we’re going to bring that to that game and see what happens.”
The Saints still have state championship holdovers Avery Lutrzykowski, Bugsy Hammerton and Addie Suckow at forward and Emma Theriault on defense. That quartet and a roster filled out with sophomores and freshmen made Lewiston sweat in a 2-0 Blue Devils win late in the season.
“We need to execute from beginning to end,” top-seeded Blue Devils coach Ron Dumont said. “St. Dom’s has shown that regardless of the score or situation, they are a threat. The Scarborough game comes to mind, where I believe they were down 4-0 going into the third period and they came back to tie the game.”
The Blue Devils haven’t trailed in a regular-season game this season (only the South No. 1 Stags played them to one-goal games), but Dumont said they did fall behind before winning an exhibition game in Massachusetts in January.
“The girls did not get rattled and there were several lead changes throughout the game, which we eventually won 5-4,” Dumont said. “So that would not be anything they have not experienced this season.”
The Blue Devils’ roster may look short on experience, with only captain Katie Lemieux at forward and junior goalie Camree St. Hilaire as upperclassmen, but the large and talented sophomore class played in last year’s regional final loss. And Dumont said nothing fazes his freshmen, who have only added more talent and depth to the lineup.
“Lewiston being a very deep team, we’ve got to be able to come to play, play hard and everybody’s got to have a great game,” Gosselin said, adding that his team needs to make as few mistakes as possible.
Dumont said his team just needs to keep following the formula it has all season.
“They just need to keep doing what they have been doing — play with pace and patience,” he said. “I don’t see a need to change anything at this point.”
SOUTH SHOWDOWN
The winner of Lewiston-St. Dom’s will get a chance to play in the state final Saturday against a worthy opponent.
The No. 1 Stags and No. 2 Scarborough Red Storm were the clear top two teams in the South this season. The Stags only lost to Lewiston, while the Red Storm lost twice each to the Blue Devils and Stags, and played the Saints to a draw in their only meeting.
No other team in the South made it over the 100-point mark in the Heal points standings Tournament Index (Lewiston and St. Dom’s were also over 100).
For the Red Storm to get their first win in three tries over the Stags this season, part of the equation is simple.
“In our two previous games against Cheverus we haven’t managed to score,” Scarborough coach Caitlin Jordan said. “Our focus this week and headed into the game (Thursday) is focusing on finishing our scoring opportunities and getting more of our shots on net.”
Jordan said the Stags take advantage of every faceoff, and always have a plan and play ready. That will be another key against the defending regional champs, who returned many key pieces from last year’s state runner-up.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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