By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

PORTLAND – With the passing of each scoreless minute of the opening period, the Lewiston hockey team’s confidence grew ever so slightly.

Outshot 6-1 in the early minutes, Lewiston weathered that storm and finished the opening period riding a wave of self-assurance.

This time, Bangor didn’t seize control as it had in two wins over Lewiston in the regular season.

“Both times we played against them and lost, they scored two goals early in the first period and put us in a hole,” said Lewiston coach Tim Smith. “We weren’t worried about our scoring. We wanted to make sure they weren’t on the board after the first period and that gave us all kinds of momentum.”

Second-ranked Lewiston rode that momentum to a 3-2 victory over Bangor in Wednesday’s Eastern A championship at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Blue Devils advance to Saturday’s state championship game for the first time since it won in 2002.

“We know exactly how everyone on Bangor feels,” said Lewiston senior forward Adam Wilding, whose team has been to the regional final four straight years. “We didn’t want that to happen again. Right now, I’m on a high.”

Wilding set up Joe Gauthier for the go-ahead tally with 9:28 left in the third period. Wilding had been in the corner and spotted a teammate in front.

“I was going into the corner,” said Wilding. “I stuck my head up real quick and I saw blue in front, and it was Joe. We have a connection. We know each other well.”

Wilding fed a perfect pass to Gauthier in front for the redirection and the 2-1 lead.

“I just beat the guy in front of the net,” said Gauthier, a senior forward. “I just cut around him. I saw Adam alone in the corner. He just passed it, and I redirected it.”

Lewiston (18-5) rode that goal and its defense the rest of the way. Junior goaltender Brian Nason came up with a key save midway through the period on a Nick Payson wrister.

“I knew Payson likes to keep it low,” said Nason. “So I went down to try to fill all the holes.”

Lewiston held top-seeded Bangor (18-5) to six shots in the final period and 19 shots overall. The high-scoring Payson’s only goal came in the final second.

Gauthier and Travis Lebrun helped set up Nate Gruz for an empty-net goal with 1:13 left in the game.

“The second half of the season, except the one loss (in Bangor), we’ve really played well and played up to our potential,” said Smith, whose team lost to Bangor 4-1 and 4-0 in the regular season. “We knew we could be here and we had the potential. If we reached it, we knew we had a chance to win this game.”

Bangor had a hot start. The Rams best bid came with 9:26 left in the period when Payson set up T.J. Vanidestine for a one-timer that was kicked aside by Nason.

“We didn’t get the bounces,” said Bangor coach Dan Kerluke. “It’s tough for the kids when they haven’t been in this situation before. There’s a lot of pressure on them.”

Lewiston picked up the pace late in the period and was aided by a Bangor penalty. With the man advantage, Kyle Beaulieu hit the post with a blast from the left circle.

The Blue Devils outshot Bangor 8-1 to start the second period. Wilding had a chance in front when Gauthier threw the puck at the net and it was mishandled by goaltender Aaron Buzzell. Jordan Bourgoin made a bid with Brandon Girardin in front for the tip. Gauthier had a wrister on a three-on-three, and Dan Cloutier’s backhander was stopped.

Despite all of Lewiston’s pressure, it was Bangor that scored first. Ben Estabrook fired a shot from along the right boards that snuck past Mason with 5:33 left in the period.

The lead didn’t last long. Just 41 seconds later, Beaulieu’s shot from the point was redirected in front and beat Buzzell to tie it.

“When they scored in the second period, that seemed to fire us up,” said Smith. “We came right back and scored. That was a huge confidence boost for us right there.”

Bangor struggled to mount a comeback. Lewiston’s forecheck was pesky enough to hinder the Rams, and the Blue Devils backline provided ample support for Nason. Bangor’s best chance came with Payson taking on three Lewiston defenders. He made a nifty move to get a shot off, but Nason had the save.

“That’s a tough thing, especially when you get down a goal,” said Kerluke. “I had to roll two lines. It’s tough to play, in any sport, when you’re behind.”