LEWISTON — By the end of the first period Saturday, the Lewiston girls’ hockey team already figured out what had to happen.

The Blue Devils had put good pressure on the St. Dom’s defense, but Saints goalie Nicole Keaney had done more than her share to keep the game scoreless. Lewiston knew it had to work a little harder around the net and be a little more persistent.

That paid off as Emilie Cloutier scored on a rebound goal late in the first and added two more in the third to lead the Blue Devils to a 4-1 win over St. Dom’s. The two rivals had tied each other 1-1 in their first meeting.

“I think St. Dom’s did what they needed to do,” said Lewiston coach Ron Dumont, whose club is ranked first in the latest East standings with St. Dom’s seeded second. “Overall, we have quite a bit of team speed. They did what they needed to do to keep us on our toes. It was a matter of getting to the net. The goalie was making the stops. We just had to get to the trash and get into a bit of a flow, which we weren’t doing early on.”

Cloutier’s goal with 4:39 left in the first put Lewiston (7-1-1) in the driver’s seat. Though St. Dom’s stayed within reach, the Saints (7-3-1) couldn’t produce the equalizer. After falling behind 2-0 in the third, the Saints got as close to 2-1 but could never get the Blue Devils off its game the rest of the way.

In addition to Cloutier’s three goals, Marissa Zamrock had a goal and two assists. Taylor Teixeira had three assists.

“It felt good to know we were one up on them,” said Cloutier of the first tally. “The game was back and forth. It was anyone’s game at that point. To be one step ahead of them gave us a little more confidence.”

Cloutier first goal came on the power play after the Saints drew a delay of game call. Keaney was sprawled on the ice following a save and tried to cover up a shot with her glove. Cloutier was able to knock the puck free and slip it into an open net.

“It was a scrappy goal,” said Cloutier. “It was a rebound. The goalie didn’t have it quite yet, and I got under it. It went right under her glove and went in.”

The Saints nearly got the equalizer with 2:30 left when a loose puck was headed for an open goal, but Olivia Cote was at the right post. She steered the puck out of harm’s way and preserved the lead.

The Blue Devils had one more chance to add to the lead in the final minute. Sara Marden had a shot at the left side but Keaney made a nice sprawling save.

In the second, Lewiston had three tries on the power play, including a two-man advantage for 24 seconds. The Blue Devils couldn’t add to the lead on any of them. The Saints had a couple good opportunities the nearly tied the game. Anne McIntire made a rush after a penalty kill that was stopped by Lewiston netminder Sarah Turner. The puck was cleared out at the last moment by Allison Lafreniere. Late in the period, Kayla McLellan was in the slot and had a nice redirection that went wide.

“We just had to go out and play our game and play our best,” said Keaney, who finished with 30 saves. “We knew they were going to be a team we had to play for. So we were up for that.”

Lewiston made it 2-0 at 3:00 of the third. Zamrock backhanded a shot home from the right side. The Saints came right back and made it 2-1 at 7:18. Ally Hebert put in a rebound from the left side to close the gap.

“We knew we had to score soon,” said Keaney. “We went out and tried our hardest to get a goal.”

The Saints couldn’t get any closer. Lewiston stayed strong defensively and Turner was sharp in net. St. Dom’s was never really able to muster much momentum to spark a comeback.

“In between periods we said we had to keep doing what we’re doing and not change and do what they want us to do,” said Dumont.

Cloutier finished the game off with a goal with 5:37 left. She nicely deked around a diving Keaney and scored her third goal and added an empty-netter with eight seconds left.

“One goal is not a lot,” said Cloutier of the 2-1 lead. “So we had to keep fighting and get another goal.”

The Saints were outshot 33-16 by the defending state champs but felt they produced a solid effort. They had some quality chances early and were within a goal twice.

“We tried our hardest and put our all out there,” said Keaney. “I think we played really well as a team.”