“I was pretty astounded that I actually got that in,” Bellman said. “I thought that was going to go flying past the cage.”

The Lever-to-Bellman connection worked perfectly twice in the first half, as well, affirming a combination the coaches had put together on the strong side of the field with which they’ve worked all season.

“Three really nice passes from Brooke Lever, who we’ve been trying to get to touch pass all year,” EL coach Greg Perkins said. “And today, she did. Three times, she made a nice little touch pass to here, and Liz just kept putting them home. That’s something we’ve been working on all year. The two worked very nicely together today.”

The offensive outburst was necessary Tuesday as Lewiston (2-11-1) hung with EL (9-5-0) through most of the opening frame. Down a pair after Bellman’s first two strikes, the Devils rallied behind a pair of goals from Jazlyn Dumas.

“Every year we come here, and it’s always such a great game,” Dumas said. “We come here and we elevate our game.

“There was one where it was just a perfect assist, from Ashlyn (Belanger),” Dumas added. “It was right where I wanted it, the pass was perfect and I was able to put it in.”

The goals appeared to awaken the Eddies, who were all but assured the No. 5 seed in Class A North regardless of the outcome.

“That made us all anxious a bit,” Bellman said.

“Our offense was doing what I wanted to them to be doing, but we had some defensive lapses,” Perkins said. “We just have a few things to work on.”

EL stormed back with another pair before the end of the first half. Jasmin Wyman swept the ball in at the left post, and Lever added a goal of her own on Edward Little’s second untimed penalty corner try at the end of the half to put the home team back in front by a pair.

“They had to show some toughness today, and they did,” Perkins said.

Lewiston still wasn’t done knocking on the door.

“We’re that team, we’re down a lot, and we’re like the comeback kids,” Dumas said. “We usually are fighting to be winning, not the team that’s up first, so I think it’s the way we play, we always fight for more.”

After Bellman’s hat trick goal in the first part of the second half, Lewiston started to battle evenly with EL.Kasey Talarico punctuated that pressure with the Devils’ third goal with 2:47 to play in the game.

While both Dumas and Talarico will return next season as seniors, Richardson was quick to mention the contribution of this year’s senior class to the Blue Devils’ campaign.

“As the season was winding down, and our playoff hopes got further and further away, I made a decision to see what the seniors could do,” Richardson said. “One of them had never played the game before this year. Another is playing in here second and one-quarter game of the season due to injury, and another , this is her second or third game back. we had some significant personnel issues to deal with, but as the season came to the end, the seniors did what every coach dreams of, and that is lead by example.

“There is a legacy that these seniors are leaving, and it is a really positive one,” Richardson added. “I wish I could say it was always that way, but it is this time.”

Edward Little, meanwhile, still has some field hockey left to play. As the presumptive No. 5 seed in Class A North, the Eddies will likely travel to No. 4 Mt. Blue on Tuesday, Oct. 20.