There’s nothing like a win or two — or 12, even — to build momentum as team prepares for the second season.

With a pair of wins in the season’s final week, Lewiston leapfrogged a pair of teams — including rival Edward Little — and earned the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Eastern Class A lacrosse playoffs.

With 12 wins against zero losses in the regular season, St. Dom’s qualified as the second seed in the Eastern Class B playoffs. Each squad carries with it to the postseason a sense of momentum.

“I think this is the time of year it’s most important to be playing our best lacrosse,” Lewiston coach Bill Bodwell said.

Lewiston’s run isn’t as long as the Saints’ string of victories, but the Devils certainly had to fight a bit more down the stretch to make it in. With three games remaining on the schedule, they sat in eighth position in Eastern A, knowing that the top six teams qualified. Three teams — Brunswick, Mt. Ararat and Edward Little — were all ahead of them in the standings, and were all worth valuable points.

Lewiston appeared doomed. The Devils melted down and suffered a shutout loss to the Dragons.

“That was probably the worst game we played all year,” Bodwell said. “We didn’t play well in that game at all; we weren’t ready.”

But they were resilient.

Bodwell missed the next game, having been ejected during the Brunswick game. Assistants Tim Roy and Ben Fournier coached the team to a hard-fought and very entertaining win over visiting Mt. Ararat.

“The fact that we’ve had three coaches this year, and the fact that we’ve worked hard on the mental aspect of the game has a lot to do with how we bounced back,” Bodwell said.

A few days later, with Bodwell back, Lewiston played what Bodwell called the team’s “best game of the year.”

“We played well defensively, and really, that’s the hardest thing to teach the kids how to play,” he said. “Your instinct is to be aggressive, and on defense, you have to be more patient. If you look at the teams around the state that are the most successful year after year, you see that’s where it starts.”

Lewiston’s reward for clawing its way into the playoffs as the No. 5 seed will be a visit to Deering. The Rams are the fourth seed, and the winner will face No. 1 Portland, which finished unbeaten at 12-0.

But, Bodwell said, his squad knows it can play with the big boys.

“We probably gave Portland the best game they’ve had all season, and if we can get through our first game, we’ll see them again,” Bodwell said.

The Saints, meanwhile, cruised through their schedule relatively unscathed. Once its seniors returned to the team after the squad’s first pair of games, St. Dom’s outscored opponents by 133 goals over the final 10 games of the season.

But the playoffs bring a whole new perspective on things. With the No. 2 seed, the Saints draw a bye, and will face Freeport, a team they didn’t see in the regular season.

“I’m kind of apprehensive a bit,” Saints’ coach Dave Haefele said. “We’re going in, facing a team we haven’t seen yet, so we have to game plan a little differently.”

And despite its gaudy offensive numbers, even bigger for Haefele was his team’s defensive effort. The Saints allowed 60 goals in 12 games, an average of five per contest and second-best behind only Yarmouth in Eastern B.

“I think we have a balanced team and a balanced game plan going into each game,” Haefele said. “Hopefully that’s something we can continue to do.”

Haefele said Thursday he’s already trying to find out as much as he can about Freeport, which finished 8-4.

“We’re trying to find out what we can now, and try to alter our practice plans to fit any scouting information I can find,” Haefele said.

Lewiston begins its playoff push at Deering, while St. Dom’s will host Freeport. The Blue Devils’ first game, according the MPA’s brackets and barring any mutual agreement to change the schedule, will be Wednesday.

St. Dom’s first contest is currently slated for Saturday, June 12.