Lewiston’s Alex Rivet shoots in one of his four goals during the Blue Devils’ 18-2 win over Massabesic on Saturday.

LEWISTON — Coach Ben Fournier challenged the Lewiston boys’ lacrosse team to play up to the level to which it is capable after the Blue Devils suffered their first loss of the season.

On Saturday, the Blue Devils played up to some kind of level in an 18-2 shellacking of Massabesic.

“We had a tough loss against Gardiner,” Fournier said. “I kind of issued a challenge to my guys, and they accepted it. They played real hard today, and they got back to, you know, doing what we were doing.”

After opening the season with convincing wins over Messalonskee and Edward Little, the Blue Devils’ unbeaten start was ended by a 12-11 loss to Gardiner on Monday.

“I thought we were playing a little beneath what we were capable of, so I challenged them to raise the bar a little bit,” Fournier said. “Today, I think they took that challenge to heart.”

“After the loss to Gardiner we had to work hard in practice, get better, and we showed it today,” Lewiston junior Jayden Wilson said.

After a few scoreless minutes Saturday at Don Roux Field, Wilson found his way to the net and buried the first goal of the game.

Roman Dennis won the ensuing faceoff, and took the ball from there to score the second goal of the game.

Wilson scored three more goals in the opening quarter, and Alex Rivet added another, giving the Blue Devils a 6-0 lead after one.

“Jayden, he’s a great player, one of our captains this year,” Fournier said, “The game means a lot to him, and he tries to take it into his own hands — and he did today, he got everybody going, he started off the scoring, and he kept it going all game. He set the tone.”

Things quickly went from bad to worse for Massabesic (2-2).

Garrett Poussard scored 44 seconds into the second quarter, and Gunnar Wade set up Tanner Cortez for another goal 15 seconds later. Lewiston’s lead was up to 8-0.

Rivet sent one into the net from the far left side a little more than a minute later. Then Dennis, again, won the ensuing faceoff and took the ball all the way for another goal to make it 10-0.

“Roman’s our little spark plug,” Fournier said. “When he gets it, something interesting is going to happen.”

Led by Dennis and Ben Bolduc, the Blue Devils dominated the faceoffs, particularly in the first half.

“Their faceoff guy (Dennis) is very, very good,” Massabesic coach Steve Gallo said.

“We were able to nullify a really good faceoff guy (against Windham) earlier this season,” Gallo added, “and we absolutely were not today. That was probably their biggest weapon.”

Lewiston took about a three-and-a-half minute break from scoring before Rivet made it 11-0. Pat Racine added a goal in the final two minutes, and the Blue Devils went into halftime with a 12-0 advantage.

Rivet scored about three minutes into the third, and Wade added another with 7:25 left in the period, pushing the lead to 14-0.

Massabesic’s Max Irons then scored, ending Lewiston’s shutout bid with less than four minutes to play in the third.

Wilson scored again, and then Massabesic’s Cameron Roy put one in the net in the closing seconds of the period, cutting Lewiston’s lead to 15-2.

The Mustangs entered Saturday in a similar spot as that of the Blue Devils. Massabesic started 2-0, including a win over Windham in the opener, then dropped its third game to Biddeford earlier in the week.

They might still be recovering from that win over Windham, a team that Gallo said is comparable to Lewiston, because it might have given the them false confidence.

“I don’t know if it’s just an adjustment, starting off as a winning team,” Gallo said, “but I think our guys are in this mindset that something’s going to be handed to them, and it’s going to come out and just work out and we don’t have to work for it anymore because we beat a good team that one time.

“They’re facing some harsh realities.”

The third quarter was the Mustangs’ best Saturday. They tallied the two goals and matched the Blue Devils with five shots on goal.

The fourth quarter, however, was more like the first and second for the Mustangs. They managed only one shot, as Dennis, Rivet and Wilson, that order, finished off the scoring for Lewiston.

Wilson finished with seven goals and two assists to lead the Blue Devils’ attack. Rivet added four goals and two assists, Dennis scored three times, and four other players had goals for Lewiston on Saturday.

“We had everybody chip in today,” Fournier said. “So that’s always nice when everybody can get a piece of the action.”

“We were just able to get open and cut to the ball,” Wilson said. “We moved the ball well, worked as a team really good.”

Lewiston (3-1) hosts Brunswick (3-0) on Tuesday in a showdown of the top two teams in the Class A North Heal points standings.

“We’re happy with this win, but what I told the guys in the huddle was we don’t want to be satisfied with it,” Fournier said. “We’ve got one day of practice next week and then we go against Brunswick. So, we can’t be satisfied with this. We want to just keep getting better every day and keep progressing as a team, so we can finish out strong.”

Lewiston’s Alex Rivet races Massabesic’s Brady Cyr upfield during the Blue Devils’ 18-2 win Saturday at Lewiston High School.

Lewiston midfielder Roman Dennis wins a faceoff in the first quarter of the Blue Devils’ 18-2 win over Massabesic. Dennis secured the ball and ran it upfield for a goal.Lewiston’s Jayden Wilson looks to make a pass against the defense of Massabesic’s Russell Wright. Wilson scored seven goals in the Blue Devils’ 18-2 victory Saturday.Lewiston’s Alex Rivet takes a stick from Massabesic’s Brady Cyr during the Blue Devils’ 18-2 win Saturday. Rivet scored eigth goals.Lewiston junior Jayden Wilson scans the field before making a pass against Massabesic on Saturday. Wilson scored seven goals and had two assists in the Blue Devils’ 18-2 win over the Mustangs.

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