Lewiston’s Leah Landry moves the puck up the ice against Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Alyssa Prosser during the girls hockey North regional championship in Portland last month. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
Leah Landry’s focus entering her senior season was on improving her shooting and passing.
“I knew as a forward, the man thing, our goal, is to score,” Landry said. “I knew without that we wouldn’t win games. It was really important for us to shoot at targets at practice. Coaches brought targets to shoot at, so we can practice our accuracy. I feel like that helped us all get better.”
The extra work paid off. Landry scored 30 goals and added 23 assists in 19 games played a key role in Lewiston winning its second consecutive state championship.
And, for the second straight year, Landry has been chosen as the Sun Journal All-Region Girls Hockey Player of the Year.
She also became the first Lewiston player to win the Becky Schaffer Award, which goes to Maine’s top girls hockey senior player.
“It feels great to represent Lewiston in a positive way,” Landry said “There has been a lot of other great players who have come through Lewiston, but I feel really honored to get that award this year.”
Lewiston coach Ron Dumont said that Landry is an effective scorer because she can strike quickly and in multiple ways.
“She goes out of her way to try something different; that’s to her advantage,” Dumont said last month. “You really don’t know what she’s going to do next. She lulls you into this false sense of security. It’s a big bang, and the shot is off.”
When she passes, Dumont added, Landry is confident her teammates can put the puck into the net.
“She has a ton of skill, but she can dish the puck, too,” Dumont said last month. “She has a good sense of when to shoot and when to pass.”
Landry noted that her point total went up this year compared to the 2020-21 season (16 goals and 11 assists), when the Blue Devils only played 12 games because of the coronavirus pandemic. Her points-per-game average last year was 2.25, and this season it jumped up to 2.78.
Landry said her play, and that of her teammates, peaked in the postseason, during which she recorded six points in three games, including two goals in Lewiston’s 3-0 victory over Scarborough in the state championship game.
“The time I felt most confident was in playoffs, when the season was winding down,” Landry said. “Eliminating other teams, just helped us (as a team) feel all confident. I think we all played our best in the state final, we all did very well.”
Dumont said that when Landry was at her best, she was difficult for opponents to contain and was a threat to attack at any time.
“I kind of liken her to a praying mantis because of the long limbs and stuff,” Dumont said. “She kind of looks like she’s there, she disappears, or you don’t really notice her, and, bang, out comes her stick. She picks (the opponents’) pocket, so of speak. It’s not your typical defensive forecheck, but she has the skill set to do it.”
Landry said she is still undecided about where she will to go college and if she will continue to play hockey at the next level.
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