LEWISTON – Two of the state’s top forwards will be facing off when Lewiston and Scarborough take the ice for the Class A championship at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday.

Lewiston’s Ryan Pomerleau and Scarborough’s Dawson Gendreau were announced Thursday as finalists for the Travis Roy Award, which is given to the state’s top senior Class A boys hockey player.

“For both of those guys, they are great players and they play on a great line,” Scarborough coach Jake Brown said. “With Dawson, him, Nolan Matthews and Cameron Budway have built a lot of chemistry together. They are all leaders in different ways.

“With Pomerleau, what makes Lewiston so dangerous is it’s not just one guy and it’s not just one line. They are not a team that you can focus on a Pomerleau or a (Kurtis) Pelletier. They have three lines that can produce offensively.”

Pomerleau centers an all-senior line with Pelletier, who was a Travis Roy semifinalist and leads the state in points with 35 (19 goals, 16 assists), and Ben St. Laurent (six goals, 17 assists).

The other two Travis Roy finalists are goaltender Liam McGibbon of South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport and forward Sawyer Wirsing of Thornton Academy. The winner will be announced at a banquet on March 14.

Gendreau ranks second in Class A with 34 points and leads all Class A goal scorers with 23 goals. He came on especially strong toward the end of the regular season, racking up eight goals in the final four regular season games.

“Gendreau is a goal scorer,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “I think he was close to leading the league in points so, obviously, he can produce offensively. I think he scores a lot of goals. He had a breakaway the other night. I think he scored three goals against Falmouth twice in back-to-back games. I think he scored a game-winning goal against St. Dom’s, so he’s dangerous.

“We don’t do anything different terms of focusing in one particular player, we will emphasize the fact he has that (goal-scoring) ability. We will be aware when he’s on the ice, but team defense, we won’t change too much in that regard.”

While Gendreau is a standout shooter, Pomerleau is more of an all-around player. He can put up the points — he has 17 goals and 16 assists this season — but he knows where to be in all three zones on the ice, in addition to what he offers the Blue Devils off the ice.

“Pomerleau is a leader on our team. Pomerleau was unanimously picked by the team (to be captain) at the beginning of the year,” Belleau said. “He’s a character kid, he does all the things the right way, on and off the ice. He leads by example and the kids respect him.

“On the ice, he’s probably one of the smartest players we have, from a hockey IQ point of view. Not the fastest guy in the world, but he’s a lot faster than he used to be, as he worked at it.”

Pomerleau did a lot of dryland training this past offseason to gain an extra step from what he previously had.

“That was one thing I was struggling with last year. I was quick, but this year I have been eating better and getting after it in the gym. It paid off,” Pomerleau said. “(I) jumped roped and ladder work, (I spent) a lot of the time in the gym with coach (Dan) Gish (a physical education teacher and longtime assistant boys soccer coach at Lewiston).”

FORWARDS VS. DEFENSE

Another matchup to watch for Saturday is the Lewiston forwards against the Red Storm’s defense.

Both groups have a Travis Roy semifinalist in Pelletier for Lewiston and Ethan Jasa for Scarborough. Jasa led all defensemen in points this year with 19, all of which were all assists.

“I think our defensemen are going to be huge in this game,” Brown said. “Our (defense) has stepped up in the playoffs. I think we have three defenseman that are natural forwards (Kevin Woods, Michael Valente, and Nate Cusson) that we put back there to give us some depth on the blue line. They will be certainly tested, but I like how the (defense) has responded, I like how our defense managed the puck in our own end.”

Lewiston and Scarborough are among the few teams to roll three lines throughout the game.

“Just watching them the other night versus EL, before our game, they have a good defensive core,” Pomerleau said. “They can get the puck out (of their end) quickly, good defensive structure. We are going to have to move around them and put the puck in the net.”

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