LEWISTON — The Lewiston field hockey team used the artificial playing surface of its home turf to its advantage, scoring four goals in the first quarter to quickly pull away from Saint Dominic Academy in a 6-1 victory Thursday at Don Roux Field.

The Blue Devils (2-1) missed out on a good scoring opportunity less than two minutes into the game, but that was a rare missed chance in the opening 15 minutes. Charlotte Gastonguay got Lewiston on the board a little more than three minutes later off an assist from Emma Begin.

Another Lewiston goal was waved off halfway through the quarter, but the Blue Devils bounced back with three more goals in the final 5:15 of the frame. Ahna Dostie scored after a pass by Jayden Blais off a corner, Haley Jackson finished from Abby Chartier and Gastonguay scored again to complete the period scoring.

“I think they were definitely hyped,” Lewiston coach Jenessa Talarico said. “They wanted to get a win streak going. But also a few of them used to go to school there, so I think there’s a little rivalry there as well.”

Gastonguay spent the first two years of her high school career at St. Dom’s. The Class C Saints and Class A Blue Devils don’t normally play each other in field hockey.

“It’s hard to prepare for a turf game when you, yourself, do not have turf at your field,” St. Dom’s coach Abigail Bowie said. “But we were hyped-up and we were ready for it, and there were some definitely — you know, we started slow again. It happens, we’re coming off, this is our third game this week (following losses to Leavitt and Edward Little), you know? It happens, and we definitely fought back very, very hard.

“We tied some of the quarters. We were just kind of taking it quarter-by-quarter. We tied some of the quarters, and unfortunately (the score was) what it was, and I don’t feel that the score reflects what my girls did out there. They worked their butts off making that turf adjustment.”

The Saints (1-3) had their first shot on goal of the game on one of their seven corners in the second period. They later scored on another, with Lauren Fletcher finishing a pass from Anna Cote.

“My catchphrase, all the girls know this, is, ‘Win something,’ and that’s just winning the little somethings all over the field, and to me, a corner is a win,” Bowie said. “The big win, obviously, is the score, which is unfortunate, but if we keep fighting these battles, eventually we’ll find the back of the net.”

Gastonguay completed a hat trick later in the second quarter after initially being denied by Saints goalie Sydney Stebbins (five saves), who Bowie said “was an animal out there.”

“She was mentally there and ready, and that never faltered, even though she got six goals scored on her,” Bowie said. “We made some adjustments, specifically from her, and it worked.”

The Saints’ final corner of the period came with no time remaining in the first half, and Cote was denied a clean shot attempt after receiving an insert from Fletcher.

“We’ve been working on corners offensively and defensively a lot, as well, and I think it’s slowly starting to come together better,” Talarico said.

Begin rounded out the scoring in the third quarter, on an assist from Blais.

Goalie CeCe Landry made seven saves for Lewiston.

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