Sarah Turner and Brianna Lajoie skated onto the ice at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Monday with the rest of their teammates.

Bearing the bulky weight of goaltending equipment, the girls spent most of the hour’s worth of ice time working alone with coach Jim Theiss. Preparation, they said, is key for a title defense.

“I have big footprints to fill, we all do,” Turner said.

Turner, a junior, and Lajoie, a freshman, will be central figures for the Lewiston Blue Devils this season as they begin a quest to repeat as state girls’ hockey champions. That quest began in earnest Monday, the first official day of practice for girls’ hockey teams in Maine.

“It’s different, in a way, because we’re starting this season with two goalies who’ve actually played before,” coach Ron Dumont said. “What we had last year in Stephanie (Belanger) was like an unexpected Christmas gift you wake up to and smile at on Christmas morning.”

Turner was Belanger’s backup last season, and Lajoie is a freshman. Both have played the position, and Lajoie is one of five freshmen expected to step in and contribute to the defending champs’ cause. The squad lost three players to graduation — one each at forward, defense and goalie — another to transfer and a potential incoming freshman to family relocation.

“We will miss all of those girls,” Dumont said, “but we know we have some good girls coming in, too.”

The team’s captains are well aware that defending a title will be as tough, if not tougher, than winning the first one.

“Other teams are obviously going to think that Lewiston is the team to beat,” forward Emilie Cloutier said. “But I don’t think that affects the way we practice.”

“It’s a new season, and we’re going to take it one game at a time,” defender Kristin Lacasse said. “Wherever we end up, it’s how we got there that’s going to make the difference.”

Replacing a forward or two isn’t usually all that difficult, depending on the talent level of the departing player. And defenders come and go. But teams can live or die with the person holding down the painted blue crease in front of the cage.

“The key with Stephanie was, she was so mentally tough,” Dumont said. “She never really gave up a bad goal at a bad time. She was so mentally strong. There’s a lot of pressure there (for the new girls). I told them, they have to compete against each other in a friendly way. That’s what this sport is about, you have to compete to see who’s going to step up and lead.”

Across the ice, while the Blue Devils went through their paces, the St. Dom’s squad laced up its skates, waiting its turn for the first team practice of the season.

“It was a tough year last year, but I’m looking at this team and I know we’ll bounce back pretty well,” St. Dom’s coach Don Boucher said.

The Saints uncharacteristically floundered a bit last season, but the core remains from that squad, with another year of experience and maturity under its belt.

And the new additions aren’t going to hurt, either.

“We lost our top goalie, but our other goalie coming back this year is just as good, and we added a couple of players, too,” Boucher said.

Both teams used up their ice time and more, and it was obvious everyone involved was glad to be back.

“It’s great to be back out here,” Boucher said. “We’re looking forward to it.”