Girls hockey: Lewiston nips tenacious Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland

AUBURN — Scoring the game-winning goal for Lewiston senior forward Alyssa Marcoux was particularly special because the assist was provided by her best friend, Ava Geoffroy.

The two best friends helped steer Lewiston to a 3-2 victory over Edward Little/Poland/Leavitt in a girls ice hockey game at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Wednesday.

Macroux barreled toward the net and slapped the puck into the goal with 4:39 left in the game as the Blue Devils (5-1) held on against the tenacious Red Hornets (1-2-1).

“It was good (to score) — especially against a rival school,” Marcoux said, “and it is also special because it was my best friend who passed the puck to me.”

Marcoux said the Red Hornets pressed heavily and didn’t let up.

“They put up a good competition,” she said. “It gave us a run for our money. It shows us that we had to work harder. … I am very proud of my team. They worked hard the whole time, and when you work hard the whole game, you win the game.”

The two periods became a game of one-upmanship, with the teams playing to a 2-2 tie going into the final stanza.

“We didn’t shoot as much as we wanted to, even in the third period after we talked about it,” Lewiston coach Scott Laberge said. “Alyssa scored that third goal and that was a nice tip and we held on from there.

“We were struggling getting the puck out of our zone the first period, but we talked about … throwing the puck off the wall and getting it past their defense — and they did a better job of looking for those holes in the zone to come out.”

The Blue Devils got on the board first, with senior forward Emily Robert scoring 7:08 into the first period. Marcoux picked up the assist on the play.

Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland responded with a tying goal when Kyle Spugnardi scored unassisted at 11:17 into the first period. The Red Riots then went ahead 2-1 in the second period on an unassisted goal from Alyssa Prosser at 8:50.

But the Blue Devils tied up the game at 2-2 on a goal from freshman forward Avaya Desjardins using an assist by Fiona Landry with 44.9 seconds left in the second period.

Edward Little coach Dana Berube said illness has made it difficult for the Red Hornets to get together as a whole team at the beginning of the season.

“It is a different year,” he said. “We are two different teams than we were last year, but it was a great game. I thought we had possession of the puck and a lot of good opportunities, but we made a couple of mistakes and we paid for it tonight.”

There was strong goaltending going on at both ends of the ice. Lewiston goalie Kim McLaughlin made 20 saves on 22 shots, and Red Hornets keeper Emily Quinell collected 12 saves on 15 shots.

“(Quinell) battled. She did very well. That was a good tip for (Lewiston’s) game-winning goal, but she did well,” Berube said. “She held our own for us.”