LEWISTON – Twenty-three shots against is a below-average night for Lewiston.

The Blue Devils and their high-powered defense have limited most opponents this season to 20 or fewer.

After a sluggish first period Tuesday, Waterville recorded 23 shots on Lewiston’s net – in the second period alone.

The Panthers blitzed the Blue Devils from every direction, causing turmoil in the Lewiston zone and forcing a few bounces to go their way in a methodical 3-0 win in the Eastern Class A regional championship game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Tuesday.

“Their transition game is what got them going,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “Once they scored a goal, we started running around a bit in our defensive zone, and they started creating opportunities by skating hard. We couldn’t get any offense, because when we did break out against a good forecheck, they’d turn it around in the neutral zone, make a quick transition pass up the ice and they were back in the zone. That was the difference.”

Ian Rowe scored twice for Waterville, and Eric Aldrich added the third, advancing Waterville to its first state championship game appearance since 2001, when the school won its 19th state title. The Panthers will look to add No. 20 to the trophy case Saturday against TEAM.

Lewiston keeper Cam Poussard, meanwhile, stopped 42 of 45 shots in the loss and, save for a few bounces, nearly forced the game into overtime on his own.

“He’s just a great goalie,” Waterville coach Dennis Martin said.

After an evenly-played, defensive first period during which neither team appeared able to get anything set up on the offensive zone, Waterville came out in the second and absolutely blew Lewiston off the ice.

The Panthers launched 23 shots at Lewiston keeper Cam Poussard (42 saves) in the middle frame alone, allowing just four to reach their own goalie, Nolan MacDonnell, in the process.

“All season long, our first period’s been our worst one, so we wanted to come out in the second and do what we know how to do. We have the endurance to come out and run three lines and just keep skating.”

More importantly, they got a pair of goals, too, and quickly.

Rowe flew by the Lewiston defense on the left side, curled around the net and fired the puck on his backhand back toward the crease. The puck glanced off a Lewiston defenseman’s skate and into the net past Poussard.

Just 26 seconds later, Aldrich, a sophomore, took advantage of another Lewiston gaffe, stealing the puck from a fallen forward in the left corner and firing the puck from a tough angle on net.

The puck squirted between Poussard and the right post and in for a quick 2-0 lead.

The rest of the period, the Panthers didn’t let the Devils breathe, forcing Lewiston into some long shifts with relentless offensive-zone pressure.

“They outplayed us, they deserved to win tonight,” Belleau said.

In the third, Lewiston came back with more pressure, thanks in large part to a full two-minute, 5-on-3 power play. MacDonnell made five of his eight third-period saves during that power play, including one of his best of the season on a left-to-right slide on a rebound.

“The third period, they really brought it,” MacDonnell said. “They didn’t want to get shut out, obviously.”

Rowe capped things with a long shot from the right point that hit a Lewiston forward on the way to the net and bounced between Poussard’s pads.