Two cities. Three schools. Seven state championships over three seasons.

Yes, it was one banner year for high school sports in the Twin Cities. Teams from Edward Little High School, Lewiston High School and St. Dominic Academy each won multiple state titles for their respective schools, while giving fans on both sides of the Androscoggin River something to cheer about all school year long.

By the numbers, each school won at least two state championships, with Lewiston bringing home three and EL and St. Dom’s two apiece. Five of the seven titles came during the winter season, with each school winning at least one, and all three seasons saw a Twin Cities title.

“I don’t think people realize how great a year it was in the community,” Lewiston Athletic Director Jason Fuller said. “It’s impressive to think that in this community, Twin Cities, Lewiston/Auburn, seven (championships), that’s pretty impressive. That doesn’t happen a lot of places.

“It was in a lot of different sports, too. There were other sports that had success along the way. They may not have won it, but they went some place. If you’re a sports fan in the Twin Cities, it was a good year. You saw a lot of success and lot of teams take some big steps forward.”

The championships began with the Lewiston boys’ soccer team’s undefeated run to its first Class A state title, where the Blue Devils beat the Red Storm of Scarborough in a 1-0 thriller.

Fuller called the championship the culmination of a “long-time process” of the boys’ soccer program. It was also a long time coming for longtime head coach Mike McGraw.

“I think for a lot of people it was great to see Mike McGraw win one,” Fuller said. “This guys has been devoted to Lewiston Athletics and Lewiston High School as a collective whole for years. For him to be able to experience that, and kind of reap some benefits of his commitment and dedication to the school is great.”

The Blue Devils boys’ soccer team gained notoriety not just for their success (they were nationally ranked), but also for their “one team” mentality that brought together kids from multiple ethnicities.

The multi-cultural boys’ soccer team’s title came on the back of a state championship that the boys’ outdoor track team won in 2015. That team also featured athletes from multiple ethnicities, and many Lewiston teams find themselves bringing together many different backgrounds into one unit.

Winter championships in the Twin Cities came on the ice, on the track, on the mat and on the slopes. In the span of a month, the Lewiston cheerleading team started a run of five Lewiston/Auburn state titles, which ended with the Blue Devils boys’ hockey team winning a long-awaited championship. In a matter of days the St. Dom’s girls’ hockey team lifted a championship trophy, then the EL girls’ indoor track and boys’ alpine ski teams did as well.

For the Lewiston cheering team, it was their ninth Class A state title, and fifth in six years. But it was the first for first-year head coach Lysa Laverdiere.

“Lysa did a great job building off what Lynnette (Morency) did,” Fuller said. “It’s been a program that has been committed. They do a tremendous amount of work to get better every year. And the result is what you see every year.”

The Blue Devils added to their haul a month later by capturing the New England championship crown as well.

Two years removed from playing a JV schedule, a St. Dom’s girls’ hockey team filled with talented freshmen won its second state title, beating Scarborough in the final. Freshmen provided much of the scoring throughout the season (and there were plenty of goals to go around), sophomore Payton Winslow stood tall in net when called upon, and lone senior Tia Rotolico led the team as captain.

The Red Eddies won their first Class A girls’ indoor track state title just days before the boys’ alpine ski team added to its long history of winning championships.

The Twin Cities’ winter haul of state championships came to an end with the Lewiston boys’ hockey team winning its 21st state title, but first since 2002.

“It took a huge weight off our back. I think the Twin Cities were starving for a state championship,” Fuller said of the boys’ hockey title. “It’s not just us. St. Dom’s and EL, they both have storied histories. I think everybody was waiting for one of us, one of the three, to get that state championship. So I feel like there was a weight lifted off at least our backs.”

Like the Lewiston boys’ soccer team, and the St. Dom’s girls’ hockey team, the Blue Devils beat Scarborough by a goal in the state final.

St. Dom’s kept the championship run going in the spring season, with the girls’ tennis team winning the Class C state title. The Saints capped off an undefeated season by sweeping Mattanawcook Academy 5-0 in the state championship match to win their first title since 1995.

Plenty of other teams throughout the school year made some noise as well.

Edward Little put plenty of teams in the playoffs in both the fall and winter.

“In the fall, we had all our Heal Point teams made the playoffs: football, field hockey, boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer,” EL Athletic Director Dan Deshaies said. “All the Heal Point teams in the wintertime did make the playoffs, and all four of them, coincidentally, did win at least one playoff game.”

The EL boys’ and girls’ hockey teams both advanced to the regional semifinals, and the EL girls’ basketball team made it all the way to the Class AA state championship before falling to Gorham.

The spring season saw many teams besides the St. Dom’s girls’ tennis team find success. In it’s first season competing at the varsity level, the St. Dom’s girls’ lacrosse team finished the regular season undefeated before winning its first playoff game, then falling to Class B state runner-up Yarmouth in the regional semifinals.

The Lewiston girls’ lacrosse team made it to the Class A North regional final — the farthest the Blue Devils had ever advanced — before succumbing to eventual Class A state champ Messalonskee. The Blue Devils girls’ outdoor track team was the Class A state runner-up to Falmouth.

The Edward Little baseball and softball teams both made it to their respective regional finals. In baseball, the Red Eddies dueled with Bangor in the Class A North final but lost to the now three-time defending champions. The Red Eddies had won the regular-season meeting 1-0 in Bangor, handing Maine Gatorade Player of the Year Trevor DeLaite one of his two career losses. The EL softball team made a bit of an underdog run to the regional final before falling to a biger underdog in Skowhegan.

Both EL lacrosse teams qualified for the playoffs — something Deshaies said he wasn’t sure had ever happened before.

“Boys’ lacrosse took their game to the next level,” Deshaies said. “They’re going to be a good team. We got a good, young coach, and they stepped it up, and they did make the playoffs.”

The St. Dom’s girls weren’t the only Twin Cities tennis team to make it to the state final. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams from Lewiston advanced to Class A state championships (which were held on their home courts), but fell to Thornton Academy and Falmouth, respectively.

“It’s good to see the tennis program back going to the state level,” Fuller said. “They didn’t win, but I thought they did an unbelievable job competing that day. They gave everything.”

Both Fuller and Deshaies gave praise to their respective coaching staffs for program-wide success.

“I always believe it starts with the coaching staff. We’ve got an exceptional coaching staff here, and they’re able to take the kids to the next level and challenge the kids to get better and better,” Deshaies said. “And in high school it goes through cycles, and we’ve got some very good athletes up here (at EL). And good senior leadership. Senior leadership’s the key in any sport to getting to the final game, and we had a good group of seniors this year that helped our teams to that next level.”

Hardware seems to always find its way to the Twin Cities, but this year more seemed to find its way than most other years.

“I think athletics is thriving in the Twin Cities here,” Deshaies said. “It’s a good, healthy thing. No matter which team is in that final game, or getting close to that final game, they have such great support, no matter which of the three schools it is.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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