OAKLAND – It was probably better that Messalonskee goaltender Joey Charles didn’t get in the way of Lewiston sniper Jon Fournier’s first shot of the game.
It might have gone through him.
A fired-up Fournier scored on that shot – a laser from 30 feet that whistled past the stunned goaltender on its way into the top left corner – pumped his fist and turned back up field to his teammates, accepting hugs and high-fives. He was on his way to his best game of the season at just the right time.
Fournier scored four times and added four assists, leading the Blue Devils to an 8-3 win over Messalonskee in the Eastern Class A Regional Final game at Messalonskee on Wednesday.
“We know how good a team they are,” said Fournier, “so we wanted to jump on the quickly like we did and stay ahead the whole game, like we did.”
Not bad considering Fournier was playing two positions – long-stick midfield and attack – in the same game.
“Playing both positions like he did, that’s a full day,” said Tom Fournier, Lewiston’s coach and Jon’s father, “and to have scored four on top of that, that’s a full day.”
Nate Rivet, the Blue Devils’ sophomore goaltender, was efficient at worst and spectacular when he had to be.
“Nate Rivet has been clutch all season since he stepped in,” said Jon Fournier. “No disrespect to John Collette (the Blue Devils’ netminder to start the season who broke his thumb), but Nate Rivet, he’s the one that got us here.”
Rivet made a save in the third quarter, with his team clinging to a 5-3 lead, that would have made most hockey goaltenders jealous. Eagles’ sniper Ted Fabian set up at the top of the box, took a feed from the far side and crept in a few steps before firing the ball low toward the ground. Rivet went into a classic butterfly and kicked the ball aside.
“Fabian’s the best shot on their team and today, he was shooting at no angle,” said Rivet. “All I had to do is hug that post and just watch the ball.”
“That might have been the best save I’ve seen all year,” said Tom Fournier. “It was an incredible, incredible save. You could feel our team get picked up by that save.”
Messalonskee (12-2) and Lewiston (11-3) had battled twice in the regular season, with each team taking a win in tight fashion.
“We played them pretty well defensively for a while,” said Messalonskee coach Tom Sheridan. “(Lewiston) looked good in the Brunswick game (in the Eastern semifinals), too.”
Wednesday, it was Lewiston with the upper hand from the beginning as the Blue Devils disected the Eagles’ zone defense, scoring four goals in the first 6:11.
“They play that zone, and we practice on that to have me up top and give back low,” said Jon Fournier. “We got the lead because we got our crease guy rolling. Second period they adjusted, though.”
The Eagles, with their adjustments made, started to mount a comeback. Matt Delguidice scored to make it 4-1 late in the first quarter, and Nils Koons added another late in the second to pull Messalonskee to within two.
Wayne Evans scored at the 3:51 mark of the third quarter to make it 4-3, but Lewiston responded quickly on a Jonathan Roy tally at 5:28 to regain its two-goal edge.
Fournier scored the game’s final three goals as Messalonskee pressed more on offense, leaving the senior sniper with more open space.
Lewiston will face TEAM in the Class A state final Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.
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