WATERVILLE — The third time ultimately wasn’t the charm for Lewiston in its Eastern A semifinal contest against Messalonskee on Friday.
After two heart-breaking overtime losses to the Eagles during the regular season — the most recent just 10 days ago — the fourth-seeded Blue Devils couldn’t solve top-ranked Messalonskee in their third attempt, falling 9-7 at Thomas College.
Lewiston couldn’t contain Messalonskee sophomore midfielder Lydia Dexter, who tallied a team-high four goals. Her fourth goal with 2:43 remaining proved to be a backbreaker for the Blue Devils (9-5), playing in their first regional semifinal since 2008.
“Today she was the difference,” Lewiston coach Skip Capone said of Dexter. “She’s a good player. There’s no question. Tough kid. They’ve got some talented kids. They’ve got some girls that can score.
Friday’s tilt started much like Lewiston’s quarterfinal contest against Windham on Wednesday, with the Blue Devils falling in an early 2-0 hole. Lauren Pickett scored just 10 seconds into the contest for the Eagles (13-1) and Dexter followed with her first.
Just like against Windham, the Blue Devils responded. Ally Frechette jump-started a Lewiston offense that rattled off five consecutive goals to build a 5-2 lead with 4:30 left in the first half. Kristina Blais scored twice during the run that lasted 18 minutes, 7 seconds, including the team’s lone man-up goal of the afternoon.
Yet the Blue Devils found themselves tied at 5 at halftime thanks to a three-goal burst by the Eagles in the final three minutes. Nathalie St. Pierre broke a scoreless stretch of 19:37 and Dexter scored a pair, the tying goal coming with 3.6 seconds left on a free play.
“My teammates set me up nice,” Dexter said. “We went over some new plays in practice this weekend. My teammates gave me some nice passes.”
That momentum carried over as the Eagles dominated possession in the second half, firing eight shots on Lewiston goaltender Paige Fontaine and scoring on half.
“Very pleased with the second half and the last three minutes of the first half,” Messalonskee coach Ashley Pullen said. “I kind of had to light a fire under them, but since I did that we finished the first half strong and came out strong in the second half. Played our game and played with confidence. We played a much cleaner second half.
Ally Turner gave the Eagles the lead for good 3:52 into the second half on their second man-up goal. Messalonskee scored three man-up goals, the final coming off the stick of Pickett for an 8-6 lead with 8:16 left.
“We had a great stretch in the first half, played great lacrosse, and then we just kind of lost our focus and gave them some momentum and we never could get it back,” Capone said. “They’re an experienced group and we didn’t play well enough to win. That starts with me.”
Blais scored both Lewiston goals in the second half. She finished with four for the game and 10 in the postseason.
Fontaine made eight saves.
Despite the loss, Capone said he was proud of what his team accomplished this season.
“They came to work everyday,” Capone said. “We’ve gotten so much better from day one to now. You look at the number of girls we’ve got playing, they’re playing their second year. I’m talking about girls who picked up the stick for the first time last year. … We try to get better every day. That’s our approach and we did a great job of that.”
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