BRUNSWICK – The Lewiston Blue Devils were the very definition of pesky in Wednesday night’s Eastern Maine lacrosse quarterfinal. Unfortunately for them, though, Brunswick goalie Jason Miller was redefining being cool under pressure at the same time.
No. 5 Lewiston overcame a pair of three-goal deficits in the first half, then a three-point hole in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t overcome Drew Sfirri’s game-winner with just under five minutes left. That was due in large part to Miller, who protected the fourth-seeded Dragons’ one-goal lead in an 11-10 Brunswick win.
Miller tallied 15 saves, none bigger than on a quick wrister from the point by Jon Fournier with about 15 seconds left. Perhaps more important, he came up with several big stops after most of the Devils’ comebacks and kept them from getting over the hump.
“Jason has a great game at the time we need him the most,” said Brunswick coach Don Glover. “And it’s not just saving the ball. A lot of the time where we need him to come through is clearing the ball.”
“Jason’s a good goalie. He handles the ball well, and, obviously, they clear the ball well,” said Lewiston coach Tom Fournier. “A bounce here or a bounce there, and it’s anybody’s game.”
Sfirri led the Dragons (11-2) with four goals, while Tim Ellingwood notched a pair of goals. Jon Fournier paced the Devils (10-4) with three goals, while Zach Sheltra notched two goals and two assists.
Brunswick had dominated Lewiston in both club’s season opener, 9-2. The Devils quickly served notice that there wouldn’t be a repeat, jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Sheltra and Travis Lebrun halfway through the first quarter.
“We came off the field (after the opener) with a bad taste in our mouth. We knew we were better than that,” Tom Fournier said. “We thought we could give them a good tussle today, and we did.”
But the Dragons were ready for a fight, and responded with four unanswered goals to close the period, three of them by Sfirri.
“The team we played today was not the same team we played that first day, and all of my kids knew that, too,” Glover said.
The Devils battled back to tie the game in the second quarter on two Fournier goals in the span of 31 seconds. Brunswick tried to pull away again with two markers of its own, but Lewiston clawed back on goals by Tony Travaligni and Bobby Labbe (two goals, one assist) to knot the game at 6-6 at halftime.
Ellingwood scored twice in the third period to help Brunswick take a 10-7 lead into the final quarter. Josh Rivet sparked the Devils’ final comeback with a goal less than four minutes into the fourth. Labbe pulled them within one a little more than three minutes later, and Fournier tied it up again by converting off a feed from Sheltra to the right of Miller with 6:36 left.
Sfirri put the Dragons in front for good with an assist from Keith Vosmus. The Devils’ final possession began with 30 seconds left and they came out of a time out with three shots at the net. The first went to wide to the right of Miller. The senior netminder then denied Fournier’s attempt and took away the angle on a point-blank shot that went wide right with three seconds to go.
“We’ve been in the tournament the last three years, and every year we get a little closer,” Tom Fournier said. “Obviously, this is a little disappointing, but I’m very pleased. We could have easily folded in the fourth quarter, but the kids weren’t going to let that happen.”
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