After playing one Class A South favorite to a draw (Scarborough), The Class A North leaders defeated another, Falmouth, by a 4-3 score Tuesday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

“Instead of trying to be critical of playing two quality teams like that back to back, you try to embrace it as an opportunity to get better,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said.

Just like in the Scarborough game the Blue Devils (13-1-1) fell behind in the first period. Robbie Armitage put the Yachtsmen (13-4) on the board on their first shot of the game, taking advantage of a loose puck in front of the net three minutes in.

And just like against the Red Storm the night before, Lewiston responded with a goal of its own in the opening period. Yet, the Blue Devils did what they couldn’t do against Scarborough — score on the power play. Lewiston’s first man-advantage lasted just 58 seconds before Cody Doyon put home a rebound of a Cole Ouellette shot while falling down to knot the game up 1-1.

Falmouth re-took the lead with just over three minutes left in the first. Marcus Cady slipped a shot between the legs of Lewiston goalie Jacob Strout to give the Yachtsmen the advantage heading into the first intermission.

The Yachtsmen combined the momentum from late first-period goal and an early power play in the second to tilt the ice in their favor to start the middle period. The Blue Devils teeter-tottered the ice back to their side midway through via a hustle play by freshman Sam Frechette. The first-year forward worked for the puck on a counterattack and brought it below the goal line, then found Brad McLellan in the slot, who ripped a shot past Falmouth goalie Spencer Pierce.

Lewiston found success on the power play again to seemingly take a lead into the second intermission. Alex Rivet scored from Jeromey Rancourt and Ouellette with 45 seconds left. But Chris Camelio knotted things back up 12 seconds before the horn, forcing the puck past Strout for the equalizer.

The teams played an exciting third period, but it looked for most of it like the Blue Devils would go to overtime for the second night in a row. Then, Alex Robert — another freshman — put in a rebound of a Nick Bisson shot with 1:14 left in regulation.

“They’re freshman, right, by age, but now they’ve been playing quality shifts, on quality lines, and against quality opponents all year,” Belleau said. “So now we expect them to do that. They’re getting more confident every game.”

The Yachtsmen called a timeout to plan a comeback, but it never materialized. Lewiston held Falmouth without a shot the rest of the way and held on for the win.

“More importantly than finishing it off, I thought that was three of the best periods of hockey,” Belleau said. “All in all I’ve been talking about having some consistency and effort in how we play, and I thought we put together three quality periods of hockey, and it’s nice to see the kids get rewarded.”

The win allowed the Blue Devils to avenge their only loss of the year — a 5-2 loss at Falmouth in early January. It was a fact that was not lost on Lewiston’s players.

“(Falmouth) always plays us tough. They’re well-coached. They got some talented kids on that team,” Belleau said. “We want to weather the storm, we want to play consistent. And certainly we recognize the fact that they beat us, and we wanted to get that one back, and it was nice to see the kids do it.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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