Lewiston players pose for a photo with the championship trophy after defeating Scarborough in the Class A girls hockey state final at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland on Feb. 19. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald
The Lewiston girls hockey team relied on its Leahs en route to capturing its fourth state championship in 2022.
The Blue Devils finished the year 17-2, capped off by a 3-0 victory over Scarborough that gave them their second title in three seasons and fourth in school history (2009, 2015, 2020 and 2022).
“I just feel lucky I am on a team that works so good together to come this far every year,” senior Rebecca Lussier said before the state title game.
Forwards Leah Landry and Leah Dube were instrumental in the Blue Devils’ playoff run. They each scored two goals in a 10-1 victory over St. Dom’s/Winthrop/Monmouth/Gray-New Gloucester in the Northern Maine regional semifinals.
“It felt good, we worked as a team and that’s how we accomplish more,” Dube said after the game. “Our passing worked really well, and we were moving the puck well. That’s how we were able to create opportunities.”
Toree St. Hilaire and Charlotte Cloutier also tallied two goals in the win. Cloutier and Lilly Gish were the top defensive pairing for the Blue Devils in their title season.
“They are very intelligent kids in school (both in the top 15 in their class), but their hockey IQ is good too,” Dumont said of Cloutier and Gish during the playoffs. “They read the play, and they know where to put the puck. It’s clean, it’s where it’s supposed to be and (we don’t) get bogged down in your (defensive zone). It’s boom-boom and you’re out.”
Goaltender Kim McLaughlin gave credit to the entire defense for her success.
“I would be nothing without my defensemen,” McLaughlin said after the state championship game. “They carried (me) the whole game. All my teammates, I couldn’t do anything without them. My defense is a tough piece of work to get by.”
McLaughlin was no slouch herself, going 16-2 and recording 10 shutouts during the season.
When the playoffs moved to Portland’s Troubh Ice Arena for the regional finals and state championship, Dube and Landry each had a game to remember.
First up was Dube, a junior, who had a hat trick in the 3-0 victory over rival Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland to capture the Northern Maine regional championship.
Lewiston’s Leah Dube is congratulated after scoring the game’s —and her — third goal against Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland on Feb. 19 in Portland during the North regional girls hockey championship. Teammates moving in to celebrate are Lilly Gish, left, and Charlotte Cloutier, right. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
Lewiston coach Ron Dumont said anyone on the top line had the potential of being a force in a particular game. The regional final was Dube’s time to shine.
“That group of five: (forwards) Leah Landry, Toree St. Hilaire, (Leah Dube), Lilly Gish, and Charlotte Cloutier (on defense). The whole group, it’s one person, (they’re connected together),” Dumont said after the regional championship. “Tonight, it was Dube that had the magical touch.”
Dube finished the season with 19 goals and 19 goals.
In the state championship, Landry finished her high school playing career in style, scoring twice in the win over the Red Storm.
“It’s really important for us to be able to show up every game, and it’s great we can have different (players) score for us, depending on the game, and step up,” Landry said after the state final. “Leah Dube did that the other night, and then Lilly (Gish), and I happened to score tonight. That felt great.”
Leah Landry and other Lewiston players skate into the bench as they celebrate their third goal in the Class A girls hockey state championship against Scarborough at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland on Feb. 19. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald
Dumont said it was fitting when Landry scored her goals in the state championship game.
“It put the bookends for Leah Landry,” Dumont said. “She’s quite a player, she gets the first one and, open net or not, she gets the last one.”
Landry was dominant all season long, finding the back of the net 30 times in 19 games and adding 23 assists. She won the Becky Schaffer Award as the outstanding senior in Maine girls hockey and was also named Sun Journal All-Region Player of the Year for the second year in a row, after winning in 2021.
“I knew as a forward, the man thing, our goal, is to score,” Landry said after the season. “I knew without that we wouldn’t win games. It was really important for us to shoot at targets at practice. Coaches brought targets to shoot at, so we can practice our accuracy. I feel like that helped us all get better.”
Dumont stepped down as head coach following the season after being behind the bench for all four Lewiston state championships. He has seven state titles in his time at Lewiston, after winning three as a player from 1974-76.
Lewiston High School senior Lilly Gish and head hockey coach, Ron Dumont, chat Nov. 8, 2021, during the first day of practice in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Dumont’s assistant, Scott Laberge, took over the head coaching reins, and the Blue Devils are looking to get back to the state championship game in 2023.
Editor’s note: The top 10 area sports stories of 2022 were voted on by the Sun Journal sports staff.
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