FALMOUTH — It was senior night for the Falmouth girls’ hockey team Saturday, but the spotlight was stolen by the Lewiston/Monmouth/Oak Hill’s freshmen, who provided enough offense against Yachtsmen junior Julia Bonnvie in a 3-0 victory at Family Ice Center.

“I mean, 50 shots, yes you’d like more goals out of that, but the reality is if you’re getting shots, you’re eventually going to get some in,” Blue Devils coach Ron Dumont said. Tonight, three was enough.”

One of those Blue Devil (16-2) freshmen put her team on top less than four minutes in. Defender Grace Dumond took control of the puck in the left corner and carried it into the slot, where she fired a shot past Bonnvie for a quick 1-0 lead.

The Blue Devils were able to kill off a Dumond penalty without allowing a shot on goal, then another freshman set up a goal just over a minute later. Brie Dube slid a pass back to Anna Dodge at the right point, and Dodge floated a shot through traffic and past Bonnvie 8:38 in.

Bonnvie faced 20 shots in the first period, making 18 saves. She equaled that total in the second period, but kept them all out to keep it 2-0 after two.

“Their goalie did an outstanding job,” Dumont said. “And their D were boxing out really good. We really couldn’t get any rebounds.”

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“We tried to focus on playing a sound defensive scheme, and try to get out of this game healthy and focus on the playoffs,” Falmouth coach Rob Carrier said.

The Yachtsmen (6-11-1) had to kill off a penalty in the first minute of the second, and did so by holding off four Blue Devil shots at Bonnvie. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, killed off a three penalties, allowing one shot on an early Falmouth power play and none during back-to-pack penalties that gave the Yachtsmen a 5-on-3 for 53 seconds.

“That was critical,” Dumont said. “Again, 2-0 games, they’re the toughest one to protect that type of lead.

“From (goalie Camree St. Hilaire), right through to the D, to the forwards, putting pressure and not letting them set up, the kids … did a real good job.”

Dumond finished on a power play for the Blue Devils four minutes into the third to provide some breathing room. She corralled the puck in her own defensive zone, then streamed up the right boards before beating Bonnvie right to left.

“She’s special in that way,” Dumont said. “Obviously she’s a good size girl, good long stick and everything, plays good D. But tonight she proved that she can provide a ton of offense, which obviously came in really handy.”

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Bonnvie made 47 saves, while St. Hilaire stopped all 10 shots she faced for the shutout.

“Julia’s been great. The one thing I worried about when we had an injury to our backup was the type of workload that Julia was facing, with her being a first-year starter for us,” Carrier said. “She’s playing her best that I’ve ever seen her play.”

With the win, the Blue Devils overtook rival St. Dominic Academy for the top spot in the North region.

The Yachtsmen, who honored seniors Kyla Gallup, Ali Lebel, Stone Carmichael and Bea Johnson before the game, will be the No. 6 seed in the South. Saturday’s regular-season finale gave them about as good of preparation as possible heading into the postseason.

“Going up against either (Lewiston or Cheverus) to end the regular season is a great way to kind of help us get ready for the playoffs,” Carrier said.

Dumont said he liked his team getting a test as well.


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