Through the wall and door of the Leavitt/Edward Little girls' hockey dressing room at Androscoggin Bank Colisee blared an impromptu chorus of Queen's "We Are the Champions," sung by the celebratory Red Hornets themselves.

Coach Shon Collins apologized, even if there was no need.

"It's our first program (playoff) win, so they're excited," Collins said after a 3-2, double-overtime victory over Lewiston.

As the skating vocalists emerged, one-by-one, they were confronted with a hefty dose of reality.

It came from Collins and his assistant coaches, Frank Jalbert and Larry Morin, in the form of health and fitness instructions. Go home and drink a tall glass of chocolate milk. Get as much sleep as you can. Have a big breakfast. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Oh, that's right: There is another game to be played.

No. 3 Leavitt/Edward Little (15-4) meets No. 1 Greely (16-2-1) at 5 p.m. today for the Eastern Class A title at Portland Ice Arena.

It will be followed immediately by the Western final between Scarborough and York. The winners face off at 7 p.m. Saturday for the state title in Lewiston.

The Red Hornets advanced to their first regional final by virtue of a Taylor Landry hat trick, capped by her goal with nine-tenths of a second remaining in the second overtime.

"After the first overtime we were pretty much dead," Landry said. "We knew we had to pick it up and keep it going."

Greely had an easier road to the final, beating Brunswick, 5-1.

The Rangers secured the top seed when they beat the Red Hornets by that same score on the final night of the regular season. Leavitt/EL prevailed 2-1 when the teams collided in Auburn prior two months ago.

"This program, even when it was just Leavitt, has never made it past the first round of the playoffs," Red Hornets goalie Tori Sanford said. "We're making progress. We're making history."

Sanford made 31 saves against Lewiston, including numerous sliding and lunging stops in overtime.

She was helped by the tireless defense of seniors Shelbea Russell, Sydney Nadeau and Shaylin Collins.

"We only skated three defense because we moved Danica Nadeau up to forward, trying something new," Shon Collins said.

Nadeau rewarded the coach's decision with an assist on the game-winning goal.

Landry, who has scored more than 110 goals in her three-year career, leads the Red Hornets. But Amanda Grenier, Emma Martineau and Nadeau provide ample supplementary scoring punch.

Defending state champion Greely is a bit more balanced. Five different players scored in both the regular-season finale and the semifinal.

Paige Tuller, Meg Finlay, Sarah Kurland, Mary Morrison and Danita Storey all scored 16 or more goals for the Rangers.

Goalie Maura Perry's season-high 27 saves came in the win over Leavitt/EL.

One thing the Red Hornets won't be, after Monday night's marathon, is intimidated.

"That was probably one of the best games and one of the hardest games we'll play all season," Sanford said.

koakes@sunjournal.com