The Lewiston Blue Devils went 21-0 last winter, capping the season with a double-overtime victory against Scarborough in the Class A state championship game on March 7 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
The 2019-20 Lewiston High boys’ hockey team didn’t lose a game, becoming the first Class A hockey team in 12 years to go unbeaten and untied.
In fact, Lewiston won every game by at least two goals until the state championship game – a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Scarborough. That win capped a 21-0 season for the Blue Devils, who earned their fourth state title in five years and 24th overall. They are our selection as Varsity Maine Boys Team of the Year.
Going undefeated can be hard, if only because teams sometimes need the motivation that a loss provides.
The Blue Devils carried motivation over from a season-ending loss to rival St. Dominic Academy in 2019 Class A North final. That stinging defeat – and seeing the Saints win a state championship a few days later – fueled this year’s Lewiston team.
“I feel what really made the boys’ season this year so good is that we lost last year and it was a wake-up call that we need to come out with 110 percent every game, and that’s what we did,” said senior forward Kurtis Pelletier. “And we came, we saw and we conquered, and that’s that.”
Lewiston entered the season with plenty of talent to pull off such a run. That talent showed throughout the season and resulted in seven first-team All-State selections by the Class A Coaches Association, and three more second-teamers.
The first-teamers included the top forward line of seniors Pelletier, Ryan Pomerleau and Ben St. Laurent, three defensemen in seniors Owen Cox and Sam Laroche and sophomore Damon Bossie, and a first-year starter in net – junior Keegan McLaughlin.
The second-team selections were the entire second line of juniors Michael Belleau and Logan Tripp and freshman Brock Bergeron.
“Obviously we’re blessed with having some good hockey players, but this was a team that there were a lot of really good hockey players,” said Coach Jamie Belleau said. “No superstars, per se, just very good hockey players who, when they all worked together, was a good recipe for success for us.”
Pomerleau won the Travis Roy Award, given to the top player in Class A, and Pelletier was a semifinalist. Their line’s ability to work so well together made them tough for opponents to match. Pelletier was the team’s leading goal scorer and St. Laurent led the team in assists. Pomerleau was second on the team in points, just behind Pelletier.
The Blue Devils had 16 different goal scorers, and 10 players who put up double-digit points.
“It was a special group of kids. They had great chemistry. There were no egos,” Belleau said. “Everybody had a role, everybody understood their role, everybody liked their role, and everybody executed their role.”
“Coming in this year, we all had the same goal, and that was to bring something back to Lewiston,” Pomerleau said. “I think this goal helped bring the team close, and we’d all do whatever it took to achieve that goal, and we did.”
Belleau has coached outstanding teams before, winning back-to-back state titles at Edward Little early in his career and three straight at Lewiston before falling short last year, but he said he doesn’t recall ever having a team go undefeated.
“It was really a great, awesome accomplishment for them,” Belleau said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
