LEWISTON — After Lewiston Blue Devils started strong with three first-half goals, Falmouth battled back in the second half of Wednesday’s boys hockey game at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
The Yachtsman’s rally was too little too late, though as the Blue Devils came away with a 7-3 victory.
Junior defenseman Damon Bossie led Lewiston’s scoring attack with a hat trick and junior forward Evan Knowlton contributed a goal and two assists.
“(Damon) is a good player, he’s still only a junior and he has knack for the net,” Lewiston assistant coach Andy Guerin said. “Evan has been working hard and got (Falmouth) to cough up the puck and he was off (for a goal).”
The Blue Devils were without head coach Jamie Belleau for the second straight game due to health and safety protocols pertaining to contact tracing.
Yachtsmen coach Deron Barton knew Falmouth was going up against a challenging opponent for their season opener.
“I expected coming up against Lewiston in opener was going to be challenging, knowing what they have (for players) and what we have for youth,” Barton said. “But, know what, the second half was great, we got a little more comfortable and confident. I think it showed out there (on the ice).”
Bossie skated into the offensive zone on a rush on a pass from Daxton St. Hilaire and ripped a slap shot from the right-circle that beat Falmouth netminder Nic Langdon (15 saves) cleanly three minutes into the first half.
Ethan Blue potted home Lewiston’s second goal, on which Evan Knowlton piced up his first point of the night with an assist.
Tanner Anctil stretched the Blue Devils’ lead to 3-0 with under five minutes remaining in the first half.
Lewiston (2-0) opened the second half shorthanded, but Knowlton took the puck into the offensive zone on a shorthanded breakaway and snapped a wrist shot past Langdon for a 4-0 Blue Devils lead.
“That really got us going and it gave us the momentum that we needed to finish off that game, really,” Knowlton said.
The Yachtsmen finally scored when Charlie Adams sent a cross-ice pass to Nick Fischetto, who planted himself in the crease for an easy tap-in past Lewiston goalie Keegan McLaughlin (10 saves).
Bossie notched his second goal of the night, again from the right circle, at the 5:45 mark of the second half for a 5-1 Lewiston lead.
Xavier Grenier’s point shot beat McLaughlin to get Falmouth (0-1) back within three.
Falmouth kept chipping away. Mitchell Ham, who had an assist on Grenier’s goal, had his stick on the ice in the slot and Cayden Barnard’s point shot deflected off Ham’s stick and found the back of the net with less than eight minutes remaining.
“That’s going to be big part of our game this year,” Barton said of point shots. “We got (defense) that can shoot the puck and we need to get it on the net. We have some forwards that can make plays in front on the rebounds.”
Guerin said Lewiston stopped doing the things that made them successful in the first half.
“We didn’t keep to our game plan, we weren’t getting pucks in deep (into the offensive zone) and lost track (of the puck),” Guerin said.
Bossie completed the hat trick and Mason Beaudoin found the back of the net in the final two minutes of the game for the Blue Devils.
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