Lewiston’s Brie Dube keeps her eye on the goal as she readies to shoot during the Wednesday night hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. Brunswick’s Shea Sullivan looks on. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — If its first game was any indication, Lewiston/Monmouth/Oak Hill’s first-year players are first-rate.
Freshmen scored the Blue Devils’ first four goals — and six total — in a season-opening 10-1 girls’ hockey victory over Brunswick at Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday night.
“This group, this freshmen (class), they’ve been playing a lot of hockey, and clearly it shows,” Blue Devils coach Ron Dumont said. “They jumped right in, I think all around they did a great job. The whole team did.”
“That’s a team that can win states right there. No doubt,” Brunswick coach Dave Boucher said.
The Blue Devils (1-0) came out hot, but it took until the eighth minute of the first period for the goals to begin.
“They were the better skating team, from the first line to the third line defense,” Boucher said. “We played good positioning, and they didn’t slow down and eventually their goals were going in. We played well defensively, position-wise, but they’re quicker, faster, and they shot better.”
Brie Dube got the scoring going, with junior Katie Lemieux feeding her for her first varsity goal.
A trio of freshmen gave the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead 12 minutes in. Madison Conley scored a pair of goals 55 seconds apart, with linemates Gemma Landry and Sara Robert assisting on both.
“We call our blue line our three freshmen who’ve played together over the past year or two in travel hockey and other youth types of hockey,” Dumont said. “So they obviously feed off each other, know each other very well. Once they got the jitters out they did a heck of a job.”
The Dragons (0-2) cut into the lead with just under two minutes to play in the first period. Senior captain Colleen McKearney scored from freshman Elena Palmer.
“I felt we were still in at 3-1, but we certainly needed to play better offensively. They were shutting us down,” Boucher said.
Dumont told his team after the first period that how they responded to Brunswick’s goal was important. The Blue Devils’ response was as positive as it was quick. Landry scored 30 seconds into the second on a rebound of a shot by Conley.
After that it was the Anna Dodge show in the second period. The senior defender scored three of the Blue Devils’ next four goals, with the first coming 48 seconds after Landry’s.
Dube assisted on that first goal, then fed Grace Dumond for her first varsity goal just under six minutes later. Dodge added a goal assisted by Dumond and an unassisted one to finish off the hat trick with 61 seconds left in the second.
“The forwards are so good cycling the puck down low that it takes away from the defensemen, so that high side, the top end of the zone, tends to open up and they get more opportunities to see the puck,” Dumont said.
Dodge’s final tally came after the Dragons switched goalies. Freshman Hannah Wentworth came out after Dodge’s second goal, and junior Nadia Leiner was in net for the third.
“We told them, ‘always be ready. You might be splitting,'” Boucher said. “It’s good to get them both some action, that way they know they got a shot at that position. It’s a good competition for the goalies, but they support each other also, which is nice.”
Dumond and Lemieux rounded out the scoring in the third. Dube assisted on both and Landry had a helper on Lemieux’s tally.
“I actually spoke to the girls after the game, ‘I don’t even care about the hockey piece, so much, as that what I saw in the game was everybody supporting each other,'” Dumont said.
Wentworth finished with 11 saves for the Dragons and Leiner had nine. Camree St. Hilaire stopped 11 of 12 shots for the Blue Devils, with seven of those coming in the second period.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston’s Veda Leclerc handles the puck as Brunswick’s Colleen McKearney tries to block her during the Wednesday night hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
Lewiston’s Katie Lemieux and Brunswick’s Shea Sullivan chase the puck down the ice during the Wednesday night hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
Brunswick’s Shea Sullivan and Lewiston’s Sara Robert maneuver towards the puck during the Wednesday night hockey game at the Colisee in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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