LEWISTON – Casey Parker waited to hear the fan reaction or at least see the red light go on.

Neither happened.

Instead, the wrister from the slot in the first minute of action Saturday hit off the left post. What could have been a quick and crucial first strike for the Saints was simply a near miss.

“My brother Alex kicked it out to me,” said Parker, a senior forward. “I was wide open, and I tried to get a quick shot on net, and it hit the post.”

St. Dom’s can only wonder what might have happened had it gotten that first goal in the Class A state game and had the momentum swing its way. Instead, it was the opposite.

“It would have been a completely different game,” said senior defenseman Richard Paradis. “If they had put their heads down, we would have had the momentum. You could just flip flop sides on that one.”

It was Waterville that seized control of the opening period and built a 3-0 lead. It had the Saints reeling. Though St. Dom’s rallied and produced a pair of strong periods to follow, and nearly tied the game in the final minutes, that 10-minute span in the first period proved critical to the Saints championship hopes.

“That would have made a difference,” said St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellete of Parker’s potential early goal. “Not many teams have scored on Waterville first this year.”

Just two minutes after Parker’s bid, Waterville got a goal from Eric Aldrich, putting home a backhander after a flurry in front.

“We definitely came out flat,” said Paradis. “Once they got that first goal, we kind of hung our heads a little bit. There was not a lot of confidence. They got a couple quick ones on us.”

Moments later, Waterville went on the power play when Ben Randall was called for cross-checking. Just 20 seconds later, C.J. Bergeron was called for interference, giving the Panthers an extended five-on-three. At 4:10 of the game, Shawn Lee’s wrister made it 2-0.

“They came out firing, and we got into penalty trouble,” said Parker. “They have a great power play, and they’re a great team. They’re going to capitalize on the mistakes that we made.”

It only got worse when the Saints got a power play chance. Josh Gaudette intercepted a pass at the blue line and fired a shot that deflected in for a shorthanded goal.

“We went down there and had a good scoring chance, and they came back and got theirs and got it in,” said Ouellette. “Obviously, the next goal was a five-on-three. They were able to take advantage of that, and the third goal was off our defenseman. There’s nothing we can do about something like that.”

The Saints have been down often in the first period this season. Many times they’ve come back to win, but this deficit was different. With a full house and so much at stake, the slow start had the Saints staggering a bit early on. The atmosphere and circumstances made it a little more challenging to get back on track.

“It was a huge crowd, and everyone was nervous,” said Paradis. “I think we started to throw the puck away. It got into our heads that there was a big crowd.”

The fast skating Saints didn’t look like themselves in the first period. As a result, Waterville looked unbeatable and seized the moment. The Panthers outshot the Saints 18-8 in the first period and put their defensive game in perfect position to control the game.

“We had some nerves going in the first period,” said Ouellette. “We kept our composure and kept battling like we did all year.”

After surviving the period down 3-0, the Saints still had some fight left. Ouellette rallied the troops between periods, and St. Dom’s responded with two impressive periods that nearly wiped away the early deficit.

“We’ve been down before,” said Parker. “We never lost sight of our goal. We wanted to win and weren’t going to give up.”