Fair enough. But you’d better think of Lewiston, too.

Only four schools have appeared in the state championship game since the Maine Principals’ Association split the fast-growing, fast-moving sport into two enrollment classifications six years ago.

Lewiston won the Eastern Maine title to reach the final a year ago, and don’t call it a fluke. The Blue Devils also made it to the end in 2006.

And if anything, the gap has closed. Lewiston stood stride-for-stride with Scarborough before dropping a 6-4 verdict in the 2011 final after being routed by the Red Storm, 14-2, five years earlier.

“It feels good to be one of the elite teams,” Lewiston senior Eric Michaud. “All we heard my freshman year was about Brunswick and Scarborough, and now we’re kind of even with them if not better than them.”

Getting there might have been the easy part. Staying on top in a sport that’s still dominated by southern and coastal schools will be no picnic.

Lewiston opens defense of its regional crown against rival Edward Little today on the campus of Central Maine Community College with a roster riddled by graduation.

Gone are snipers Curtis Robinson, Sam Cloutier and Ryan Lemelin and a host of defensive stalwarts, including gritty goalkeeper Jesse Leeman.

Don’t shed many tears for the Devils, however. Coach Bill Bodwell has a double-digit number of seniors eager to step in.

“I think it’s kind of like what a lot of the Lewiston sports went through this year losing the Class of 2011, whether it was football or hockey or any of the sports,” Bodwell said. “It’s a matter of finding leadership and guys who are now becoming leaders. They’re the guy now. They’re the guy that needs to get the job done.”

Lower-scoring games might be the rule in Lewiston’s encore season, at least early. Most of the Devils’ experience roams the middle of the field.

Michaud, Brandon Tiner, Justin Millette and Steven Patrie provide a veteran presence. Lewiston looks to Tiner — a recent finalist for hockey‘s Travis Roy Award — to ignite the offense along with Matt Melanson and Chris Rancourt.

“This year it’s a whole different stage. We have to regroup. The seniors need to stick together as a group and coach the underclassmen and show the senior leadership and help them out,” Tiner said. “This year have to focus on defense a lot. If we start the game off quick with good defense, the offense will come.”

One major boost in Lewiston’s development was the opportunity to play crossover games against elite teams from the SMAA and WMC.

Last season’s home victory over Cape Elizabeth arguably was the biggest win in the history of the program. Lewiston also played multiple regular-season games with Portland the past two springs.

Thanks in part to the continued growth of KVAC lacrosse, that luxury is gone. Without any non-conference games on the schedule, Lewiston tried to compensate with its preseason slate. The Blue Devils took on prep schools Hebron and Gould and reigning Class B champion Yarmouth.

“When you’re playing in those games and you’re getting killed, you’re going to get frustrated and you’re going to get angry,” Tiner said. “When you look at it in the big picture it’s going to help us out to see what we have to do to get to the state game.”

“Hebron took it to us a little bit, but that was a good learning experience for us,” Bodwell echoed. “I thought we played well against Yarmouth. It helps us really see what we need to do to get better.”

Lacrosse is a lifelong activity at Cape Elizabeth and Yarmouth, where many players embrace the game in grade school.

By comparison, Lewiston athletes have learned the game on the fly. Michaud didn’t play until he was a freshman and only reached varsity a year later. Tiner picked up the stick as an eighth-grader.

“I went to a lot of summer camps, and of course I had a lot of older guys to help me with my development,” Michaud said. “We’re trying to be upbeat and positive and help the younger guys feel good about it, because we know lacrosse isn’t an easy game to get. You can pick it up but it’s hard to be a solid player. So we try to keep it fun around practice.”

Lewiston takes an important long-term step this spring, introducing a middle school program. Leading the way is local businessman Tom Fournier, who was the varsity coach when Lewiston reached its first state final in 2006.

“We couldn’t ask for a better guy to lead that. Very well-liked, very knowledgeable in the sport,” Bodwell said. “That’s what we need to do every year is have 15 guys showing up as freshmen that have lacrosse experience.”

Yet another reason to etch Lewiston’s name on that list of elite lacrosse programs, permanently.

koakes@sunjournal.com

2012 Lacrosse Overview

Class A Boys

Led by the return of the league’s leading scorer, Nate DelGiudice (56 goals), reigning KVAC champion Messalonskee is the early favorite both to win the conference and take the next step to its first Eastern Class A title.

Standing in the Eagles’ way, as usual, are perennial power Brunswick and defending regional champion Lewiston. The Dragons are more experienced than the Blue Devils, who must find some scoring punch and break in a first-year starting goalie in order to reach that level again. Matt Melanson and Brandon Tiner are keys to the offense, while Eric Michaud is a tireless defender.

Maine high school sports has returned to a playoff format that invites two-thirds of the teams. That would have benefited Oxford Hills (6-6) a year ago and should help the Vikings this season, with Tyler Hamlin, Nick Record and Harrison Turner among 10 seniors back from one of the program’s most successful seasons ever.

Edward Little (2-10) welcomes a new coach with Steve Cobb moving over from Oak Hill. Travis Landry and Drew Lupardo lead what should be a more explosive offense in 2012.

Class B Boys

St. Dom’s enjoyed an undefeated regular season in 2011 before losing to longtime nemesis NYA in the Eastern Class B semifinals. The Saints should have the firepower to achieve those lofty heights again, namely 40-goal attack man Troy Haefele and sidekicks Anthony Fagone and Chris Finlay. The defense is in good hands, also, with four-year starter Cody Rodrigue tending the cage.

Oak Hill enjoyed a solid preseason with wins over Lake Region and Class A Oxford Hills. The Raiders have slowly built themselves back to KVAC contention and are still young with only three seniors on a 28-man roster, but Eric Lapointe, Zach Leeman and Dylan Mulherin aspire to put their team in the expanded postseason a year ahead of schedule.

There’s a new look on the Eastern side of the ‘B’ equation, with Mt. Blue dropping down after a 3-9 season in Class A and Buckfield joining forces with RSU 10 partner Mountain Valley for a cooperative team. Former MV girls’ coach Rick White moves over to lead the boys.

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