Lewiston’s Paige Pomerleau follows the puck through to a goal with Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Sophia Castagna riding close behind her during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

AUBURN — When the dust settled at the end of the first period, the Blue Devils were outshooting the Red Hornets by an astronomical amount, but the gap between the teams was only two goals.

Lewiston couldn’t add to its lead but also didn’t budge on defense in beating rival Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland 2-0 in a girls’ hockey battle at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Wednesday.

The Blue Devils (15-0) finished the first period with a 16-0 edge in shots on goal, but Red Hornets (11-3-1) goalie Manny Guimond only allowed two of them to go in, and neither was a soft goal.

“We had a couple looks there where it was like, ‘Oh, god, this is in,’ and she cut across, squared up and did a real good job,” Lewiston coach Ron Dumont said.

Paige Pomerleau got the first puck by Guimond 5:27 in — on the Blue Devils’ sixth shot on goal. A Red Hornet turnover put the Pomerleau and Sara Robert in a 2-on-0 rush, and Robert fed Pomerleau, who, while falling down, flipped a shot over Guimond’s left shoulder and inside the top-right corner of the net.

“My team’s really patient, but in any game that first one’s a good one. It was a nice shot by Paige,” Dumont said.

Brie Dube doubled the Devils’ lead by redirecting Charlotte Cloutier’s point shot with just under three minutes left in the opening frame.

The Red Hornets had a pair of power plays in the frame, but couldn’t put a shot on net during either.

“It’s something I say to the girls all the time is, you know, my belief is when you don’t have a good power play the other team’s outworking you. And I thought they outworked us on that PK,” Red Hornets coach Dana Berube said.

Dumont said the key to his team’s penalty kill is to not let the opponent’s offense set up, and the Blue Devils did just that.

“You know, Lewiston, you got to play a perfect game if you’re going to beat them, and we can’t play the first period the way we did and think to still be in it,” Berube said. “But I like our fight the rest of the game, and the fact that we didn’t give up.”

The Red Hornets drew the shots closer in the second, putting seven on Lewiston goalie Camree St. Hilaire, while the Blue Devils sent nine at Guimond, but the two netminders let nothing in.

They both upped their games in the third, especially on some close calls for both teams late. Isabel Berube and Taylor Cailler each had good looks on St. Hilaire, who earned the shutout with 11 saves.

Guimond stopped 36 of 38 shots.

“I wouldn’t say it was her best of her career, because she’s started every game since she was a freshman, but definitely, hands-down, her best performance of the season, for sure,” Berube said.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Eve Martineau and Lewiston’s Brie Dube battle for control of the puck during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland’s Jillian Bergeron and Lewiston’s Madison Conley each attempt to gain control of the puck during Wednesday night’s hockey game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)

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