LEWISTON – At 2-4 after the first six games of the season, things seems to be just about normal for the Lewiston High School girls’ lacrosse team.

From there, after a 15-2 loss to powerhouse Cape Elizabeth, something happened. Whether someone flipped a switch on the back of every player or not is still to be debated, but the results cannot.

In five of the final six games, Lewiston picked up a victory and finished a season with a winning record for the first time in the four-year history of the program.

“I can remember my freshman year, the first year we had a program, we were terrible,” goalie Angie St. Hilaire said. “We didn’t even win a game until my sophomore year, and we were losing games like 22-0.”

This year’s resurgence is even more impressive when you consider how the Blue Devils have defeated their opponents.

In the first game of the streak, against Oxford Hills, Kelsey Varney scored the game-winner with 10 seconds left in the game.

Two wins later (Lincoln Academy and Oxford Hills again), Lewiston suffered its lone defeat during the stretch, a 12-11 setback to McAuley in which the Lions scored with 40 seconds to play.

On May 19, Lewiston downed Messalonskee 11-10 on a Caitlin Anthoine goal with 51 seconds to play, and last Saturday Kelsey Rodrigue netted the winner with 54 seconds to play, assuring the Blue Devils of their first winning season.

“They just don’t quit,” Lewiston coach Don Jalbert said. “In that York game, when we were down and there were 10 minutes left, I was going to just get some subs in, but I saw the sparkle in their eyes and I knew they had it in them to come back.”

Lewiston held the Wildcats scoreless over the final 10 minutes and scored six goals to complete the improbable comeback win.

“It’s more the clock than a certain number of goals,” senior Gen Lysen said. “It’s a matter of us having to play hard the entire game, which we are starting to get. Still, the intensity picks up as the game goes along.”

In some cases that has backfired. Against Brunswick, Tuesday’s first playoff opponent for Lewiston, the Blue Devils were down early and managed to outplay the Dragons late, but not in time to avert defeat.

“The seniors, those that have been here since the program was a varsity sport four years ago, they really are the glue that holds this team together,” Jalbert said. “Eight of them have been here since the first day, and they may not all play as much now with the addition of some talented underclassmen, but they are still what binds this team.”

Ashley Joy, Ashley Norton, Sara Tuttle, Mallory Carpentier, Stacey Cannady, Tori Langelier and Sheri Barant, along with St. Hilaire, have seen the program grow from the first day.

“And the scoring,” Jalbert continued. “Last year, if Gen (Lysen), Kelsey (Varney) or Deneiges (Labbe, Class of 03) didn’t score, we didn’t score. This year, not only Gen and Kelsey have scored, but so have Caitlin Anthoine, Luka Jacobsen, Kelsey Rodrigue, Becky Tardif and Mallory Long. It’s a lot more spread out.”

For Jalbert, though, spread out is OK, but consistency would be even better.

“They remind me a lot of the first two years,” Jalbert said. “They are like a Jekyll and Hyde team, but I think they are finally starting to get it, and we are starting to win because of it.”

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