Lewiston’s Christine Chasse (11) drives past Mt. Ararat’s Emily Welch (13) and Isa Blessington (22) during a KVAC girls lacrosse game in Topsham on Tuesday. Chasse scored four goals to pace the Blue Devils to a 7-5 win.
TOPSHAM — A strong second half was just what Lewiston was looking for Tuesday in a girls’ lacrosse showdown with Mt. Ararat.
Christine Chasse led the way with four goals — two in each half — to lead the Blue Devils to a 7-5 road win over the Eagles.
There were several positives for first-year Mt. Ararat coach Sam Diamond, though. First, the Eagles battled from start to finish, played solid defense in front of goaltender Casi Perow and created several dangerous scoring opportunities.
Still, Diamond’s squad left the pitch with an 0-4 mark, something the Eagles hope to correct at Edward Little on Friday.
In this one, it was a determined second-half rally by Lewiston that did in Mt. Ararat. Tied 2-2 at the half, the Blue Devils (2-1) reeled off three straight goals in the first 5:21 of the frame for a 5-2 advantage. Chasse, who tallied the two Lewiston goals in the first half, found the back of the cage two more times 2:04 apart for a 4-2 Blue Devils edge. Erin Lachance finished off the run for the visitors.
But, Mt. Ararat, behind 11 saves from Perow, hung in. The junior goaltender stopped Rachel Ouellette from point-blank range, and made key stops on Shaima Naji, Dacia Bail and Abbie Langelier to keep the Eagles close.
“Casi kept us in the game and this was the best game that I have seen her play to date. Often, she single-handedly kept us in the game,” Diamond said. “That was the best game we have played from start to finish. We are starting to get into the swing of things. We have so much to pull from this.”
Defensive
Over the game’s first 10 minutes, Perow and Lewiston freshman goaltender CeCe Racine kept the game scoreless, with Perow making four stops, including three on Lewiston free-position opportunities. Racine had three stops early.
Mt. Ararat found the back of the cage first, as Emily Welch converted off a free position.
Lewiston struck right back, getting a pair from Chasse just 19 seconds apart for a 2-1 Blue Devils edge with 9:50 left until halftime.
The Eagles tied the game with 4:01 remaining, as Isa Blessington found Shannon Harty cutting to the cage for the equalizer.
Perow had six saves in the opening frame as Lewiston held an 11-5 shot advantage, including the final three before the intermission.
The Blue Devils continued to press coming out of the gates after halftime, winning three straight draws and firing eight shots toward Perow’s net.
“They were all over the place and our defense wasn’t settling the way they should have been after a really good first half, but we pulled ourselves together and did better,” Perow said.
“Our team, we have been working really hard on defense and our offense has been hard to get together, but today we were better and were cutting really good,” Chasse said. “Coach (Brant Remington) gave us a pep talk at the half, knowing that our defense was playing really good. Our loss to Brunswick yesterday (5-4) was tough. We thought we should have done better. But, we caught up really quick and played hard today.”
Goals by Mt. Ararat’s Harty and Welch drew the Eagles to 5-4 with 13:45 left, but Lewiston answered on a goal each from Sasha Leclair and Bail before Harty, from Jessica Cloutier, finished the scoring with her third for the Eagles with 4:21 left.
A scary moment occurred late in the contest when Blessington tumbled to the ground after a collision with a Lewiston player. She was helped off the field.
“She was just coming back from another injury,” Diamond said. “We will need to keep ourselves together and play for Isa. She is a large part of our team. We need to hold our heads up high and play these next games with pride.”
Perow feels that her team is close to achieving that first victory.
“This is the best game we have played yet and it will only get better for us. We need to work on our scoring. Our defense played really well today,” Perow said.
Chasse paced Lewiston, which hosts Oxford Hills on Friday, with four ground balls, with Hannah Dickinson, Meghan Morris and Gabrielle Wilson adding three each.
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