Edward Little/Poland/Leavitt’s Audrey Day, left, and Sophia Hartley try to get a stick on a shot by Lewiston’s Leah Landry, center, during a Jan. 10 game in Lewiston. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
The girls hockey playoffs begin Wednesday, and the Lewiston girls hockey team is in a familiar position: the No. 1 seed in the North region.
The Blue Blue Devils (14-2), who won the most recent state championship in 2020 (there was no postseason in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), are the top seed for the fourth tournament in a row.
Lewiston against excelled at both ends of the ice this season, scoring 99 goals and allowing only 17.
Since COVID-19 prevented many teams from playing a full slate of regular season games, the Maine Principals’ Association has opened this winter’s postseason to every team that wants to participate. Only 15 of the 16 girls hockey teams have decided to keep playing. Lewiston’s would-be quarterfinal opponent, Greely (3-13), decided to sit out of the tournament.
Blue Devils coach Ron Dumont said not playing a quarterfinal game isn’t a major change because in past tournaments the top two seeds in the North received quarterfinal byes into the regional semifinal.
Dumont will instead set up a controlled scrimmage for the Blue Devils on Wednesday against alumni and other women in Lewiston-Auburn who play hockey.
“We can create situations: power plays, penalty kills, pulling the goalie and stuff,” Dumont said. “It’s kind of fun; the kids enjoy doing it. That’s what we will do and make it (into a positive situation) even though we don’t have a game.”
In the semifinals, Lewiston will face the winner between No. 4 Winslow/Gardiner/Cony/Messalonskee/Lawrence/Brewer (7-7) and No. 5 St. Dominic/Gray-New Gloucester/Winthrop/Monmouth (5-9), which will be at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday at the Camden National Bank Ice Vault in Hallowell. The Saints won both regular-season contests against the Black Tigers.
St. Dom’s lost three straight games to Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland, Cheverus/Old Orchard/Kennebunk/Windham and Scarborough in the final week of the regular season. Coach Paul Gosselin said after the the loss to the Red Hornets that no matter the results of those games, they would benefit the 11-player Saints squad in the postseason.
“We got a small bench; as they get more ice time, their stamina improves and we will be ready for next week (for the playoffs),” Gosselin said.
Prior to the final week of the regular season the Saints had won four of their previous five games.
Second-seeded Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland is happy to be the second seed but isn’t looking too far ahead in the playoffs.
“We had a goal of reaching second place (in the North) from the start of the year, and (we) were able to do that,” Red Hornets coach Dana Berube said. “We are going to take it one game at a time.”
The Red Hornets host the No. 7 Brunswick Dragons (3-12) on Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. The teams only met once this season, with the Red Hornets winning 10-2 on Jan. 22.
The hottest team entering the playoffs is third-seeded Mt. Ararat/Lisbon/Morse/Lincoln Academy (13-3-1), which is riding an 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1).
“Our team is ready and prepared; all the kids are excited,” Eagles coach Jeremy Saxton said. “Usually, this time of the year, you will have kids burnt out. This team, I asked the other night, they said, ‘Hey coach, we are ready to go.’ We have had less practices this year (than normal), but it made us more energized and we are psyched to move forward to the playoffs.'”
Mt. Ararat/Lisbon will take on No. 6. Yarmouth/Freeport on Wednesday at Norway Savings Bank Arena at 7:50 p.m. The Eagles won the teams’ only meeting this season, 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 29. The Eagles and the Clippers were to slated to face off Friday, but the game was canceled due to a snowstorm. Wednesday’s winner will face either Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland or Brunswick in a regional semifinal.
The top three seeds in the North region are separated by 94 Heal points. The gap between the top three seeds in the south is less that 36 points.
Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland (11-2-2) came out on top to earn the top seed. No. 2 Cheverus/Old Orchard/Kennebunk/Windham finished 12-4-1 and No. 3 Scarborough capped the regular season 9-5-1.
Lewiston saw all three of those teams in the final week of the regular season.
“It felt like playoff hockey for all three games,” Dumont said. “It was good in the sense, our (playoff) positioning wouldn’t have been compromised if we won or lost. We could freely get out there and take on this challenge.”
The Blue Devils lost 5-4 in overtime to Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland. Lewiston beat Scarborough 3-0 and defeated Cheverus/Old Orchard/Kennebunk/Windham 1-0 in OT.
Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland hosts the No. 8 Portland/Deering (2-15) on Wednesday at Troubh Arena in Portland. The winner will face the winner of the No. 4 Falmouth (8-5-1) versus No. 5 York/Traip/Marshwood/Noble (5-8-2) quarterfinal game. That game takes place at the Falmouth Family Ice Center in Falmouth.
No. 2 Cheverus/Old Orchard/Kennebunk/Windham will host No. 7 Gorham/Bonny Eagle/Massabesic/Westbrook/Fryeburg (5-10) at Troubh Arena on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The winner will face either Scarborough or Biddeford/Thornton/Wells/Sanford, who meet Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.
All postseason paths lead to Troubh Arena, which will host the state championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19.
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