Girls hockey: Lewiston/Oak Hill holds on to beat St. Dom’s

AUBURN — Lewiston/Oak Hill stood tall defensively at the end of the game to defeat St. Dom’s 3-2 in a girls hockey clash at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Wednesday.

“We knew it was going to be tough going into this after a loss the last time with them,” Blue Devils forward Kylie Dulac said. “We knew what to expect and the battle back and forth was what kept us in it. It was a big rivalry game and we knew we had to pull out a win in this one.”

St. Dom’s coach Paul Gosselin said the Saints couldn’t get pucks in the goal.

“It’s a simple game, you have to score more than the other guys and we didn’t,” Gosselin said.

Gosselin said the team is struggling with finishing plays lately.

The game was important for playoff positioning, especially for Lewiston/Oak Hill, which sat in the sixth and final playoff spot in the Northern region before the game, while St. Dom’s was in fourth.

Lewiston coach Scott Laberge said the Blue Devils were looking forward to play their rivals.

“The rivalry makes a big difference,” Laberge said. “Any season, regardless how your season is going, these are the games you look forward to — St. Dom’s, EL, the cross-town rivalry. It’s nice to get this one, for sure. It certainly helps the playoff seeding. I think we were in already, but hopefully it gets us a more favorable matchup.”

Dulac scored twice for the Blue Devils (8-7), while Aiva Dorman had a goal and an assist for the Saints (8-7).

Both teams had a chance early in the second period to break the scoreless deadlock.

St. Dom’s Gabby Allen hit the left post 2:40 into the period. Three minutes later, Lewiston almost tapped home the puck, but it sat on the goal line.

“Gabby had a few chances — the breakaway, the post — and that’s the kind of the bad luck we are getting,” Gosselin said. “As that mounts in the game, you get a little more frustrated and they get tighter. When they get tighter, they miss opportunities.”

The Blue Devils jumped out to the early lead when Dulac’s shot hit St. Dom’s goalie Alana Wheeler and the puck rolled off of her and into the goal for a 1-0 lead at the 6:37 mark of the second.

Emma Berube put the Blue Devils up 2-0 nearly two minutes later when she tapped home a Crew Langley pass.

Emily Andrews put the Saints on the board when she beat Lewiston goalie Tatum Hunt with a point-blank shot in the final four minutes of the middle frame. Dorman had the assist.

Dulac scored her second goal early in the third period on a breakaway attempt. She beat Wheeler on the blocker side and Langley picked up her second assist.

“I knew that we needed to get something or our line needed to produce something,” Dulac said. “We needed something to push us ahead a little bit and that secured that finish.”

Dorman put the Saints within one when her shot found its way past Hunt midway through the third period.

“Sometimes you get lucky, but by design you don’t want that to happen,” Gosselin said. “You want to make sure you finish the right plays. We aren’t doing that right now.”

Dulac took her third penalty of the game with about four minutes remaining and then teammate Emma Berube took a minor with three minutes left.

“I let the team down with those few penalties,” Dulac said. “It was a bit scary being in the box and knowing it was a 5-on-4 and anything could really happen. The girls who were out there were able to get it out of our zone.”

Hunt felt the pressure being down two players.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Hunt said. “I knew we could get out of it pretty well, but it was scary.”

Hunt said she had a good mindset throughout the game.

The Saints got a few shots on goal and Langley killed most of the first penalty of the 5-on-3 with an end-to-end rush.

“That’s the biggest things with those girls, they are good enough with the puck, (they) don’t have to get rid of it right away if you have space,” Laberge said.

Both coaches said they don’t practice 5-on-3 situations often.

“Never,” Gosselin said. “That’s a little bit out of our realm and I think we were a little bit misconstrued about that. It is what it is.”

Wheeler made a big save in the final two minutes to keep St. Dom’s in the game. Hunt matched her with a sliding save with 54 seconds remaining.

“I have kind of a quick glove,” Hunt said. “I get that from being a catcher (in softball). It helps out a lot.”

St. Dom’s called a timeout after Hunt’s save, with the Saints preparing for an offensive zone faceoff. Lewiston cleared the zone to end the game.

Laberge credits Hunt for playing well the entire game.

“She kept us in the game early and she would love to have the second one back,” Laberge said. “The team did a nice job rallying around her at the end, preserving the win.”