More times than not, when Capone yelled out “patience,” the ball found the back of the net shortly thereafter, with Olivia Bergeron and Kristina Blais scoring five goals each. The Blue Devils went on to beat the Deering Rams 14-5 in a Class A North quarterfinal contest at Don Rioux Athletic Complex.

“I am going to throw the word patience out of my dictionary,” Lewiston coach Skip Capone said. “It is what it is. I talk a little bit. The kids have to be athletes and try to make plays. We did that in a a lot of phases today. It was a really nice victory.”

The team knows what success is all about, and the Blue Devils understand shot selections make a big difference in any game.

“We do have to be patient,” Bergeron said. “We have to keep cycling, and every time we get that one-on-one, you have to take it.”

Deering came out strong in the first three minutes, scoring  two free-position goals when Megan Violette and Alli Donovan found the back of the net to give the Rams a 2-0 lead.

“We gave them a couple of free positions and we can’t do that,” Capone said. “We weren’t quite on our game on defense. Once we cleaned a couple of things up, we were fine. I thought all three phases: offense, defense and transition we were pretty solid. We did what we had to do today. It was a great team effort.”

Deering coach Aimee Burgos was expecting more from her go-to players.

“We came out really strong,” Deering coach Aimee Burgos said. “The first two goals were by us and it was a hot day out. Some key players fell apart, so we weren’t playing full strength, I guess. That’s time for the rest of the team to step up and hold their own.”

Blais responded 34 seconds after Donovan’s goal to put Lewiston on the board at the 3:35 mark. Bergeron tied it at the 9:36 mark. Blais scored at the 15:42 mark, while Bergeron scored the next two to give Lewiston the 5-2 lead.

The key to Lewiston’s game plan is its defense.

“It all starts with our defense,” Blais said. “Defense to transition which gives us the ball. Then we had to keep cycling the ball on offense to get good shots and capitalize on those open shots.”

A contributing factor to the Blue Devils’ 5-0 run was when  Deering lost senior captain Micary Verville, who took two dangerous penalties in the first 10 minutes of the game that disqualified her.

Burgos said her team lost focus after seeing a key player done so early in the game.

Violette scored her second goal of the game to make it 5-3, while Blais scored her third of the half with one minute to play. Erin Lachance assisted on the goal.

Christine Chasse opened the scoring in the second half for the Blue Devils (9-4) before Violette responded with her third of the game.

Gabrielle Wilson potted Lewiston’s eighth goal. Bergeron and Blais added two more in the second half. Dacia Bail, who assisted on Blais’s first goal, notched a goal in the second half. Lachance scored with three seconds remaining in the game as she also had two assists.

“(Erin Lachance) and Christine Chasse, both freshmen, were outstanding today as they have all year,” Capone said. “They do a great job in all phases and we are really happy with them. I am happy with all the kids and we get another game on Thursday.”

Donovan notched her second goal of the game in the second half for Deering (5-8).

“This was the first time we (saw) the playoffs in eight years,” Burgos said. “Last year, we were two and 10, and this year we finished five and eight. I couldn’t be more proud of them as a team.”

Monica Field only needed to make three saves for the victory, while Lillian Frager had 13 saves for Deering.

nfournier@sunjournal.com