LEWISTON — Despite a solid start to the season and a record to match, the Lewiston High School girls’ hockey team was still looking for a signature win against a team with a winning record.

Defending state champion Greely will do just fine, thank you.

Allison Frechette had a five-point night and Corine Laberge added two goals and two assists to lead the Blue Devils to a 6-1 win over the Greely Rangers at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday.

“We finally came out moving our legs and taking advantage of some opportunities,” Lewiston coach Ron Dumont said. “It’s a lot different playing with a little bit of a lead and with some momentum.”

Frechette, a freshman, scored the first goal of the game 17 seconds after the puck dropped, and registered the primary assist on the other four Lewiston goals.

“She’s a playmaker, there’s no getting around that,” Dumont said. “Coming in as a freshman, we put her on the top line for a reason. She moves well and can create a lot of space for the rest of the players to move. And you saw that with the primary assists. But she can score, too.”

Laberge continued to show her nose for the net. He first strike came from the left circle and was a seeing-eye wrister to the top corner. Her second came on a rebound in traffic.

The first period went about as perfectly to script as the Devils could have hoped.

Seventeen seconds into the contest, Laberge fired a shot low on net. The rebound kicked out to Frechette in the slot and she buried her shot to give the home team an early lead.

“The only bad part about getting a lead that early is that you have to hold it longer,” Dumont said.

After killing a checking penalty during which the Rangers racked up five of their seven first-period shots, the Devils added to their lead at 5:26 of the opening frame. This time, Laberge’s shot on net from the left circle sailed over Greely keeper Nica Todd’s catching glove and into the top corner.

In the second, the Blue Devils withstood early pressure from the Rangers, who tried to get back into the game as quickly as Lewiston had seized control in the first.

“You just can’t get away with playing one or two shifts against a good team like Lewiston,” Greely coach Matt Roy said. “We needed to play two solid periods, and we didn’t do that.”

On a power play, Erica Lemieux dipped and dived around a pair of defenders in the low slot and appeared to put Lewiston ahead by three with a shot into the top right corner. Officials ruled it hit the post and play continued.

Less than two minutes later, though, Makaela Field added a third Lewiston goal anyway with a shot from the right circle.

Sam Cote ran the Lewiston lead to 4-0 at 11:12 of the second before Greely finally found a way onto the scoresheet on a rebound at 11:44. Maura Perry followed up a shot from Ellie Schad to beat Lewiston keeper Paige Fontaine and keep the Rangers within shouting distance.

Laberge’s second of the contest at 7:30 of the third and Mikaela Brown’s first at 13:50 put the game away.

“We just got outworked for three periods,” Roy said. “We got outworked by a better team.”

Copy the Story Link