LEWISTON – Move aside, Lewiston, make some room on the sliver-medal level of the podium for Waterville.

The Purple Panthers, led by a cacophony of speedy, skilled forwards and given a lift by the return of stalwart defenseman Shawn Lee, blitzed St. Dom’s with 18 shots in the first period, scored on three of them and held on from there – desperately – earning their school’s 20th Class A hockey championship with seat-clenching, white-knuckle 3-2 victory over the school at the top of that heap, St. Dom’s.

“You know it’s going to be like this going in,” Waterville coach Dennis Martin said. “It was a war. Even when they got up 3-0, I told my team, I said, ‘Boys, we have a long way to go.'”

The Saints have amassed 24 titles since 1948, four more than Waterville and Lewiston.

But this year’s edition fell behind by too much early on, and couldn’t quite catch up, thanks in large part to Waterville keeper Nolan MacDonnell, who stopped 22 shots in the final two periods.

“I’m not sure about the numbers, but it felt like a lot (of pressure),” MacDonnell said. “Everything is amplified, too. The sound in here, the place was loaded. It was a great atmosphere for the state championship game.”

MacDonnell admitted after the game, though, that he never even saw a late chance by St. Dom’s forward Spencer Teixeira that got by the Waterville keeper, hit the post and bounced back underneath him.

“That happened?” MacDonnell said with a smile of disbelief. “Oh, wow.”

In three previous playoff games this season, St. Dom’s had allowed no more than 17 shots against – for an entire game. Seeing so many shots threw the Saints for an early loop.

“It came down to that first period,” St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette said. “I thought we won two periods. They took advantage of a 5-on-3, got a break on that third goal, but I’m proud of the way we played tonight.”

The team readjusted during the first intermission, and mounted a comeback effort.

“We used our speeds, started getting the puck in deep and beating them to the puck,” Ouellette said. “We made an adjustment of how we played in the offensive zone.”

Waterville, meanwhile, appeared to slow down a bit in the middle frame, perhaps a bit too complacent with the 3-0 advantage.

“I think maybe we felt like we had it in the bag,” Waterville forward Josh Gaudette said. “We definitely backed away a little bit, and got away from what we wanted to do.”

Martin called a timeout to reorganize his players. But that only slowed the Saints down briefly. It was then that MacDonnell stepped up in the face of consistent pressure – like he’s done all season.

“We hit the post there at the end, as well, but he played a great game,” Ouellette said. “They were 20-1 coming in for a reason, though, and they played well enough to win themselves.”

Sophomore Eric Aldrich notched the Panthers’ first goal at 3:03 of the first on a rebound to St. Dom’s keeper Shayne Curtis’ left. Lee made it 2-0 on a snipe from the high slot, and Waterville went ahead 3-0 on a Josh Gaudette short-handed goal – the eventual game-winner.

“I was a bit tired at the end of my shift, and I just wanted to shoot it and get off the ice,” Gaudette said. “I got a bit lucky when it hit off their defenseman and floated in.”

The Saints got one back in the second, converting on a power play chance when Ben Randall snuck the puck past MacDonnell on a feed from Alex Parker.

The Saints also had the better pressure in the second, but couldn’t capitalize on numerous chances from point-blank range.

The Saints continued to pour it on in the third, and pulled to within one at 5:39 of the final frame on another Randall goal on a rebound to MacDonnell’s right.

MacDonnell shut things down from there, even on a late St. Dom’s power play.