LEWISTON — Lewiston’s underclassmen propelled the Blue Devils to a 7-4 Class A boys hockey quarterfinal win over Windham/Westbrook/Bonny Eagle at The Colisee on Friday.

Five of the Blue Devils’ goals came from either freshmen or sophomores. Cam Plourde, a freshman, had two tallies. Aizyk Laliberte, a sophomore, had a goal and two assists.

“It’s special,” Plourde said of playing a big part in Lewiston’s win. “I really want to get the seniors a championship.”

Plourde, Laliberte and Deano Scalia, a freshman, are all on one line.

“That second line is that grey line, and they were putting pressure on all night and scored (four) of the goals,” Lewiston coach Jamie King said. “I think they were putting a lot of pressure on them.”

Laliberte said the trio has good chemistry right now.

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“We are moving the puck and playing good offense,” Laliberte said.

Dylan Blue, a senior, had two goals.

Trail Blazers coach Bobby Fothergill said Lewiston is a strong club.

“The mentality going in was they are a fast team and we need to get on them quick,” Fothergill said. “When we did that, and took their time and space away, we had some good opportunities, but they are a hell of a hockey team — they are really good.”

Top-seeded Lewiston (15-4) will face No. 5 Thornton Academy — which needed four overtimes to dispatch No. 4 Falmouth on Friday night — in the state semifinals on Wednesday at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

Lewiston’s Austin Landry opened the scoring 2:05 into the first period when he fired a quick snapshot from the right circle.

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Lewiston scored on a power play when Blue’s slapper from the top of the point went through traffic and past Trail Blazers Jacob Marston 6:36 into the first period.

The eighth-seeded Trail Blazers (11-8) took the momentum after Blue’s tally and got three quick shots on Blue Devils goalie Gabe Pomerleau.

Philip Traina put the Windham co-op on the board when he skated through the slot and slid a backhander into the cage nearly 10 minutes into the opening stanza.

“We were trying to settle, (the deficit) was only a couple of goals,” Fothergill said. “The old adage in hockey is the two-goal lead is never safe. We were in striking distance.”

Laliberte restored the two-goal lead when he chased down an Ethan Blue clear-out. Laliberte went in on a breakaway and made a deke on Marston at the top of the crease for Lewiston’s third tally late in the opening period.

Laliberte said he missed on an opportunity during the regular season to score against the Trail Blazers.

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“Last time we played them, I shot and I missed the net,” Laliberte said. “I decided to dangle and score.”

The Blue Devils had a couple of scoring opportunities after Laliberte’s tally to put another one on the board before the intermission, but each chance came up empty.

Cole Heanssler got the Trail Blazers within one goal again early in the second with a power-play goal. Traina fed Heanssler with a pass in the high slot and Heanssler fired the puck past Pomerleau.

Lewiston’s freshmen responded later in the middle frame. Scalia’s shot from the left circle picked the top corner for a 4-2 lead 5:23 into the period.

Plourde’s shot found a hole past Marston 12:37 into the stanza, with Laliberte picking up the assist.

Plourde scored on a breakaway in the first minute of the third period to give the Blue Devils a 6-2 advantage. Laliberte had another assist.

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“I just wanted to get it in deep, get it on the net, and try to score,” Plourde said.

Dylan Blue picked up his second goal as the puck rolled across the crease and he tapped it in.

Shaun Traina scored a power-play goal for the Trail Blazers in the third period and Aiden Toy scored in the final minute for the Trail Blazers’ fourth tally.

“We were talking about in the third to tighten up in the defensive zone,” King said. “We went over it again, and our coverages. They move the puck well, we had good (defensive) zone, but they scored a couple of extra.”

Fothergill said the third period was the Trail Blazers’ best period when they were playing desperate.

“We tried to match their intensity and their skating,” Fothergill said. “I thought we did it somewhat, and we did it better in the third than any other period.”


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