Paige Pomerleau’s shorthanded goal with 42 seconds left in the first period gave top-seeded Lewiston some breathing room, and the Blue Devils skated away with a 5-0 victory over third-seeded Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland in the girls’ hockey North final Wednesday evening at Troubh Ice Arena. 

It’s the second regional title in a row for the Blue Devils (19-0-1) in their third straight try. Lewiston will be making its record-extending sixth trip to the state final. 

“It’s really, really nice to be able to have a second go at it that quick,” Blue Devils Coach Ron Dumont said. 

The Red Hornets (11-7-3) were vying for their first trip to the state championship game, but they had to play defensive from the start. Lewiston outshot its rival 10-0 in the first period, including Pomerleau’s shorthanded goal from the high slot over goalie Manny Guimond to make it 2-0. Lilly Gish got the assist. 

“Manny just always seems to go down, we always just seem to score on her high, and that’s all that she gives, pretty much,” Pomerleau said. 

“That was a beautiful shot. Not many kids can make that shot,” Dumont said. “Yeah, that really got us rolling and settled everybody down.” 

Gemma Landry gave the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead 11:36 into the game on the rebound of Madison Conley’s shot. 

“We just realize not every shot is going to go in, but as long as you keep pressuring the net and shooting on the goalie, it will eventually get in there,” Landry said. “I saw that hole opening, and for a second, I … thought I was going to whiff it, you know, like miss the net, or Manny was going to make an unbelievable save – she’s a great goalie. So it was a little scary to see that come through, but once I saw it in the net, it was like a weight being lifted on my shoulders.” 

Leah Landry made it 3-0 just over four minutes into the second period, taking advantage of a loose puck near the right post and poking it in. Bailee St. Hilaire and Leah Dube assisted on the goal. 

Molly Sirois gave the Red Hornets their first shot on goal with 5:40 left in the second period, but Lewiston goalie Camree St. Hilaire stopped it from the right circle. 

“We were trying to pick our spots, obviously, but at times throughout the season, we’ve struggled offensively,” Red Hornets Coach Dana Berube said. 

St. Hilaire also made a high save on Eve Martineau’s point shot 20 seconds later, and then a glove save on Caroline Tracey’s power-play shot in the final minute of the period. Tracey had five goals in the Red Hornets’ first two playoff games. 

Madison Conley scored 1:25 into the third period to make it 4-0, and Gish scored on a late power play. Gemma Landry assisted on both goals.

“At times in that second (period), I thought we were mentally and physically exhausted. We kept sticking with it, and like usual, when you’re down by three, we’re looking to try to get the next one and close that gap a little bit,” Berube said. “Didn’t do too much with that power play (that carried over into the third), and then they buried one right away. I thought that was the one that (did us in).” 

St. Hilaire stopped all nine shots she faced for her 15th shutout of the season. 

Guimond made 25 saves in her final high school game. She started every game in her four-year career. 

“She had a lot of good saves in that game,” Berube said. “She made some spectacular saves.” 

“We knew we had to bring our A-game with no mistakes, and we just didn’t have that in us today,” Berube said.