Lewiston ditches St. Dom’s in third period for rivalry win

AUBURN — Lewiston freshman Colten Daniels was stoked after he scored his first varsity goal Saturday night.

Then he scored a second time to help lead Lewiston to a 5-2 victory over St. Dom’s in a Class A boys hockey game at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

“I guess we could have done better, but could have scored more goals,” Daniels said. “I feel good for scoring my first goal as a varsity freshman.”

Daniels added that the Saints (0-9-1) were no pushovers.

“They played physical, I guess,” Daniels added. “They are a physical team.”

Daniels’ first varsity goal was the first goal of the game, and he scored it with a flip of his stick and help from Evan Knowlton and Cody Dionne, who picked up assists 4:48 into the first period.

The Saints responded four minutes later when Colin Casserly scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Not to be outdone in this game of oneupmanship, the Blue Devils (4-4-1) scored again in the first period. Troy Poulin sent the puck over to Andrew Theriault, who promptly delivered Lewiston’s second goal and put the Devils back on top, 2-1.

It wasn’t long before the penalties came into play in the second period. The Saints got on the scoreboard first after Arvid Andersson used a Casserly assist and scored a power-play goal about 10 minutes into the second period and tied the game at 2-2.

But the Blue Devils moved ahead again, 3-2, when Ethan Blue took a short shot and slipped it over Saints goalie Jayden Lynn’s head for a goal. Dionne was credited with the assist.

With a one-goal lead, Lewiston’s defense put the kibosh on the Saints’ offense and scored two more goals in the third to give the Devils some breathing room.

“We kept working hard,” Lewiston coach Jamie King said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game, but we just kept in there and kept working. It was a ‘W.’”

Daniels slipped in his second goal on a point-blank shot on net with a little help from an assist by Dylan Blue.

Knowlton put the game out of reach with his goal with a little over two minutes left in the game. Tanner Anctil earned the assist on the play.

The rival Saints had their opportunities to score, but when the Blue Devils opened a three-goal lead in the third period, Lewiston’s defense also kept St. Dom’s scoreless and knocked the wind out of the Saints’ sails.

“We had some chances,” St. Dom’s coach Daniel D’Auteuil Jr. said. “We didn’t quite play our best game today. We have been playing a lot better, but we just can’t finish. We have a hard time finishing with all the chances we get.

“It is a young team, so they are still learning and still getting their feet under them — and we’ve got a short bench, so it makes it a little harder when you are tired.”