AUBURN — Offense was tough to come by in Wednesday’s matchup between the Lewiston and Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland girls hockey teams.

The Blue Devils managed to find the back of the net twice in the second period, and that was enough for a 2-0 win over the Red Hornets at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

Toree St. Hilaire played a role in both goals for Lewiston (9-1), which finished with 16 shots on goal compared to 10 by Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland (3-4-1).

Lewiston coach Ron Dumont said he and the players knew from the start that Wednesday’s game wasn’t their best showing.

“Even the kids said, ‘We are off,'” Dumont said. “Give credit to the (Red Hornets), they worked hard, but we weren’t in sync from the faceoff. The kids knew it, and I think one of our girls said (the Red Hornets) made of comment, ‘Lewiston isn’t in sync.’ So they knew it.”

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland coach Dana Berube was pleased with the Red Hornets’ improved effort over last Monday’s 7-1 loss to the Blue Devils.

“I was disappointed in our effort last week, but it’s high school, you aren’t going to be perfect every game; our team is still trying to learn how to win and compete,” Berube said. “I thought we did a great job of that for three periods. I am happy with our effort. And we have things to work on, but I have always been a coach (who believes) that it starts with the effort. We saw that today.”

Berube said the Red Hornets did well with their breakouts, not over skating pucks and having two hands on their sticks.

After a scoreless first period, it took the Blue Devils only 52 seconds to get on the scoreboard in the second. Toree St. Hilaire sent a pass to Lilly Gish in front of the net, and Gish finished to give Lewiston a 1-0 lead. Leah Dube also recorded an assist on the goal.

“That was kind of the plan; it was, ‘Hey girls, even though things aren’t going perfectly, this is where you strike and take the opportunities while you can,'” Dumont said. “If we don’t get that one, this game goes either way, and it was still a tight game.”

Midway through the second period, St. Hilaire had to put in extra work to beat Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland goalie McKenzi Horton. St. Hilaire fired two shots that deflected off of Horton’s pads. On her third try, St. Hilaire finally lifted the puck over Horton for a 2-0 lead.

“Like coaches say, you follow (the puck) until it goes in,” St. Hilaire said.

Dumont said that he gave St. Hilaire some words of encouragement prior to the goal.

“She was struggling a little bit tonight, and I said, ‘Toree, you got to keep sticking (with it), you need to keep working,” Dumont said. “To her credit, she got one and didn’t get down on herself.”

The Red Hornets’ offense got off five shots on Lewiston goalie Kim McLaughlin in the opening period, but they only mustered one in the second period. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, tallied seven shots on goal in the first and nine in the second.

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland controlled possession for most of the first five minutes of the third period but didn’t turn it into any shots on goal. Their best opportunity came when Sophia Hartley was in the slot, but her shot attempt deflected off a Blue Devils players’ skate.

Berube said Hartley and the Red Hornets’ other top five forwards had a solid game generating chances.

“Our (second line) had a tough game last time (against Lewiston), but they have been playing pretty well all year. I thought they had some good opportunities tonight,” Berube said. What I wanted to see, honestly, before the game was three periods of committed effort, and we got that out of our players today. You can’t ask for more, and we kept the game close.”

The Red Hornets were scoreless on two power-play opportunities in the third, managing only one scoring chance while on the man-advantage.

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland got off four shots on goal in the third, while Lewiston had zero.

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