LEWISTON — A flurry of goals near the end of the second quarter provided Lewiston enough of cushion to win and advance in the Class A North playoffs with a 7-5 win over Portland in a boys lacrosse quarterfinal Wednesday.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (5-8) next face the winner of the matchup between No. 8 Edward Little and No. 1 Falmouth, scheduled for Thursday, in Saturday’s semifinals.
“It is a game of runs, and they went on a good run,” Portland coach Mike DiFusco said.
Lewiston senior Eli Bigelow tied the game at 3-3 with a goal at the 10:14 mark, then finished a drive to the net with a spin move and a low shot, netting the go-ahead score with 8:40 to play in the first half.
The Blue Devils then exploded for three goals in a 31-second span, one from Jackson Bement and two by Sam Courtemanche, to put some distance between them and the No. 5 Bulldogs, pushing the lead to 7-3 with 2:54 remaining in the half.
“Coming out of half, we usually come out slow, takes us a second to pick it up, but we usually end the first quarter in a good battle with any team, and Portland is a great team,” Courtemanche said. “To get the three goals really helped us bring momentum into the second half.”
Lewiston has struggled in the second half this season, coach Ben Fournier said, so the cluster of goals gave the Blue Devils a spark to take in the third quarter.
“That’s huge for building momentum going into the second half,” Fournier said. “Historically this season we’ve struggled in the second half, so getting that push by scoring three and then kind of taking a more possession-based approach for the rest of the game, really sealed the deal.”
Portland (4-9) scored once in the third period, a goal from Tobey MacCachran that made it 7-4 with six minutes left in the quarter.
The Blue Devils didn’t score in the second half, but Fournier was excited about the way they played.
“We had some of the best possessions all year,” Fournier said. “We’ve been preaching to be smart with the ball, and tonight it all clicked. That paid dividends for us in the second half.”
The Bulldogs trimmed another goal off of their deficit when Ben Littell scored from left side to cut Lewiston’s lead to 7-5 with 10:38 left in the game.
Lewiston goalie Cooper Kearns made several big saves in the second half to help the Blue Devils cling to their lead and keep their season alive.
“Three goals in a row put us in a big hole, and they ended the half on a high note,” DiFusco said. “We tried to battle back in the second half, but didn’t have enough in the tank and didn’t have enough time.”
BACK-AND-FORTH START
Portland opened the game strong, controlling much of the possession throughout the first quarter. But with five minutes left in the opening period, Lewiston’s Jackson Bement cut into the middle and ripped a goal from 15 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
Fournier said that the freshman Bement’s performance stood out Wednesday.
“I think everybody had big plays all over the field,” Fournier said. “Jackson stepped up as only a freshman in his first playoff game. I thought he was phenomenal. He won faceoffs, got down the field and he scored. Everyone stepped up.”
Portland quickly answered with a goal from MacCachran to tie the game at 1-1.
MacCachran’s goal was followed by one from Brady Toher 18 seconds later to put the Bulldogs in the lead, 2-1, with 2:40 left in the first.
In the final minute of the period, Lewiston’s Cody Dionne received a pass from Daven Langelier after he made a cut behind the net and fired a shot into the net to tie the game at 2-2.
Portland took the lead back 67 seconds into the second quarter when Carlos Braceras scored to make it 3-2.
Lewiston hope to carry the momentum from Wednesday’s win into Saturday’s regional semifinal.
“Our intensity in this game was crazy good, the bench was going, everyone was rifling, and we were playing like it was the last game we’ll ever play,” Courtemanche said. “We have a lot of seniors (for whom) it could have been the last game.
“Falmouth and EL are both good teams and we have to bring the intensity.”
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