LEWISTON – No shots are going to equal no goals 100 percent of the time.

And 99 percent of the time, two shots from better than 40 feet aren’t going to elude Waterville senior netminder Nolan MacDonnell either.

Eric Aldrich rang the puck off the pipe and in just 42 seconds into the third period and Waterville allowed just two shots on net the rest of the way as the Purple Panthers upended Lewiston 1-0 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Wednesday.

“It was a dogfight out there,” Waterville coach Dennis Martin said. “They really let us play out there. We know (Lewiston goalie Cam) Poussard is a heck of a goalie, and we had to get shots to the net on him.”

In a game lacking a lot of flow, there was plenty of physical play, typical of a meeting between these two long-time rivals.

Waterville was a bit more physical overall, particularly on defense, which contributed the Lewiston’s low shot total (13).

“They played a physical game, probably as physical as I’ve seen played against us all season,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “It’s kind of like watching us play a bit, but they were a little bit faster, a little bit better than we were. It’s a good indication to our boys of what it’s going to take to come out of the East this year.”

The Panthers (10-1-0) managed 21 shots against Poussard, but Aldrich’s strike off the pipe was the only one that mattered. After a slick feed from Nick Deblois to spring him one on one with Lewiston defenseman Devin McLellan, Aldrich snapped a shot through McLellan and past Poussard off the left post, just past Poussard’s blocker hand.

“I play with Devin on the same junior team, too,” Aldrich said. “He likes to step up, and I was hoping maybe I could slip it through. I was either going to slip it through or I was going to get hammered. Poussard closed in a little bit, got ready for the shot a little early. I knew I was going for the post the whole time.”

The rest of the game was a defensive clinic from Waterville. Lewiston killed off a Waterville power play, and found itself on a two-man advantage for seven seconds later in the final frame. One of Lewiston’s two shots in the period came with the extra skater, and only because a long shot slithered through a pile of players in front.

Five of Waterville’s 10 wins this season have been shutouts, and the Pathers’ lone blemish is an early-season, 3-2 loss to Falmouth.

Lewiston, meanwhile, falls to 7-4-1, with losses to Brewer, Thornton Academy and St. Dom’s, in addition to Waterville.