LEWISTON — Lewiston boys hockey coach Jamie King knew early in Monday’s contest that sophomore goalie Gabe Pomerleau had his A-game.

Pomerleau stopped all 30 shots he saw as he led the Blue Devils to a 1-0 win over South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport.

“He seemed focused after that first barrage of shots, and I said, ‘All right, he’s on tonight. We need to get one,'” King said.

Senior forward Jaden Maynard talked to Pomerleau near the end of the second period, telling the goalie that he was he was in a zone and that he could hold the Red Riots scoreless.

“Jaden Maynard, he was talking to me and he’s like, ‘You are getting a shutout,'” Pomerleau said. “I was like, ‘All right.'”

South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport coach Joe Robinson said that even though the Red Riots didn’t score, their offense played well.

“We were buzzing, the forecheck looked good — it’s been looking really good lately,” Robinson said. “We just couldn’t find the back of the net. We had plenty of chances. It was one of those nights the goalie played well.”

Jasper Curtis also had a good game in goal for the Red Riots, making 17 saves.

“He played really well. I feel bad he didn’t get an eye on the puck that went in,” Robinson said. “He didn’t see it — no one saw it.”

Pomerleau saw plenty of shots in the first period. He stayed square to the shooters and made 15 saves in the period.

The Red Riots (6-8) were trying to get Pomerleau moving in his crease and trying to get off shots from different areas on the ice. Red Riots defenseman Joey Soucy rang the post with a shot early in the first period.

“First, they were testing everything,” Pomerleau said. “Then our team played like a team today.”

Freshman defenseman Jacoby Oliveira put the Blue Devils (6-7) up 1-0 when his wrist shot from inside the blue line beat Curtis 3:44 into the second period. Aidan St. George had the assist.

“I had an awkward angle. I just shot the puck and it went in,” Oliveira said.

South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport fired nine shots on Pomerleau in the middle frame and had six in the third period.

The Red Riots ramped up the pressure in the final three minutes of the game, in an attempt to tie the game up. Sophomore forward Tobey Lappin, the Red Riots’ leading scorer, had the best chance when he set up in the slot and a pass came to him, but his shot went wide.

“We had a great play out of the corner, but we didn’t get it,” Robinson said.

Pomerleau focused on making sure nothing got by him and recorded a save on Lappin’s chance.

“I got a piece of it, so we were good,” Pomerleau said.

King said the Blue Devils did well at getting the puck out of the defensive zone in the final minute by winning defensive zone faceoffs.

“Cody Dionne had a couple of wins on the draw,” King said. “That helps a lot. If you don’t win those draws, you are scrambling. We were able to get the puck out a couple of times.”

Robinson said his message to the Red Riots after the game was positive.

“I told the guys, ‘You can’t hang your heads after a loss like that. We will be fine,'” Robinson said.

« Previous

Next »

Related Stories