LEWISTON — Considered bad luck in many circles, No. 13 has significant meaning to Cody Dussault, and to volunteer assistant lacrosse coaches Caleb Daigneault and Tim Roy.

“There’s a tradition at Lewiston, the top defenseman wears No. 13,” Dussault explained.

A senior, Dussault first picked up a lacrosse stick as a freshman, enamored with the sport his brother picked up as a junior alongside his friend, Daigneault. Roy wore the number before that.

Now, it belongs to Dussault.

“I didn’t really know (Roy) before, because No. 13 had been passed to me from Caleb (Daigneault),” Dussault said. “When I came in as a junior, that first scrimmage we were giving out numbers, and he saw me grab ’13.’ He was pretty happy when he saw I had 13, and from there, we’ve had a great relationship.”

That relationship has helped Dussault become one of the elite lacrosse defenders in Maine, and in turn has helped Lewiston reach the Eastern Class A boys’ lacrosse final (Wednesday, 6 p.m. at Lewiston High School) for the second time in four seasons.

“It’s not unusual to see a player become a good lacrosse player even if he started as a freshman,” Lewiston head coach Bill Bodwell said, “but it is unusual, you don’t see many players, regardless of how many years they’ve played, get to his level. When I was at the All-America meeting, a couple of coaches spoke up and we talked about how there were only three truly elite defensemen in Maine right now. Cody was one of them, along with (Mike) Ryan of Falmouth and (Karl) Rickett of Deering.”

One of the biggest reasons Dussault is so effective, Bodwell said, is his ability to be patiently aggressive.

“I think if anything, his one-on-one skills have gotten better,” Bodwell said. “He understands how to be patient on defense. I find that to be one of the hardest things to teach young lacrosse players is that defense isn’t all about being aggressive. There are a lot of times where you actually have to be patient, play your angles and be happy that your player didn’t score. I think a lot of defensemen think they have to take the ball away, and that gets them into trouble.”

In games this season against Messalonskee and Portland, Bodwell marked Dussault up against two of the top snipers in Maine.

“Especially going into games against teams like Messalonskee and Portland, coach pretty much told me I was going to be on an island with their top player,” Dussault said. “He said, ‘We’re really not going to give you any help.’ I knew I had to be focused and ready to go in those games.”

Neither Nate DelGiudice of Messalonskee nor Caleb Kenney of Portland managed more than a pair of goals in those games.

“When he’s in the right spot, when he’s playing his angles correctly, he’s sending a message that whoever he playing on that you’re not going to get where you want to go,” Bodwell said.

Dussault’s ability to adapt to different situations has also served him well, essentially becoming a defensive field general.

“One of the biggest things is his understandings of the game,” Bodwell said. “He understands the game well, and that’s a very important thing to have in a high school lacrosse game. His lacrosse IQ is as high as anyone I’ve ever been around at the high school level.”

Dussault is also surrounded by talent, particularly his other close defenders, Sheldon Jones and Steven Patrie.

One of the things that’s helped our defense, in addition to Cody, has been our ability to put six strong defenders out there all the time,” Bodwell said. “And it helps the rest of them to have Cody around, and it helps Cody to know he has strong defenders around him, too.”

Deering, along with Messalonskee and Lewiston, finished the season with an 11-1 record, and the Blue Devils earned the top seed in Eastern Class A by less than one point in the Heal Point standings over the Rams.

Wednesday, the Blue Devils, led on defense by Dussault, will have a chance to return to the Class A state final for a second time.

“Right from the beginning, we need to play sound defense,” Dussault said. “As long as we keep our communication up, we’re pretty much unstoppable.”