LEWISTON – As much as it tried to prepare for Saturday’s game, the Lewiston boys’ lacrosse team truly couldn’t be ready for the conditions it faced.

The Blue Devils took on Mt. Ararat in driving rain and snow and with subsequent slick field conditions. It forced both teams to adjust and find ways to get the job done despite the weather challenges.

“The big story was the weather,” said Lewiston coach Bill Bodwell. “We were trying to run some stuff that we’d been working on, and it was very difficult to do that.”

Still, Lewiston managed to remain unbeaten with a 7-3 win. The Blue Devils came out strong and took control in the opening quarter and held off the Eagles for the victory.

“We’re a pretty experienced team this year with a lot of senior leadership,” said Bodwell. “On days like this, you kind of fall back to muscle memory. Your brain stops working, and you just keep doing the things you’ve been doing. You’ve got to keep things simple.”

Elliot Chicoine led Lewiston (2-0) with four goals while Curtis Robinson had a goal and two assists. Brandon Tiner added a goal and an assist, and Sam Cloutier scored a goal. Jesse Leeman had 10 saves in goal.

The Blue Devils started strong with three goals in the first quarter while outshooting the Eagles (0-2)  5-0.

“When we started, it was freezing,” said Chicoine. “It was wet and hard to pass. The first quarter, it wasn’t really wet yet. So were were passing a little better. Those quick three goals were good. Our goal was to move the ball around and play hard.”

Tiner set up Robinson for the first goal with 10:07 left in the quarter. After Cloutier scored midway, Tiner finished off a Cody Dussault pass with 1:47 left in the quarter.

Lewiston was able to possess the ball and didn’t allow Mt. Ararat to get much offense going.

“Our defense did an outstanding job,” said Chicoine. That’s a strong point of ours.”

The Eagles picked up its game in the second and outshot Lewiston 10-6. Mt. Ararat got a goal from Josh Richards to make it 3-1, but the Blue Devils answered with a pair from Chicoine  in front in the final 3:59.

“We went out of our offense,” said Bodwell. ” We went to something more simple and just tried to possess the ball.”

Mt. Ararat got the lone goal of the third quarter from Casey Becker. Chicoine scored twice early in the fourth to build a 7-2 lead before Becker netted his second of the game.

Mt. Ararat created better chances in the second half but still struggled to beat the Lewiston wall of defense. When the Eagles did get a quality shot off, Leeman was there for the stop.

“We have a good crew of defense,” said Bodwell. “We should be a strong defensive team this year. Jesse is a good goalie for us and we have some good senior leadership on defense.”

The 2-0 start is a good one for the veteran Lewiston squad, but the Blue Devils have challenges ahead. Bodwell was pleased to get Saturday’s game in to allow more time to prepare early next week.

“It’s a long season,” said Chicoine. “We’ve got Brunswick on Wednesday. That should be a good test for us. It will be a good game, and then the next Tuesday we have Portland.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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