LEWISTON – The Deering boys’ lacrosse team found itself on the defensive from the start Wednesday in the Eastern Class A final.

With Lewiston pushing deeper and deeper into the Rams’ end of the field and maintaining control of the ball, Deering created little offense in the first half but still trailed by just one goal.

The top-ranked Blue Devils eventually wore down No. 2 Deering, however, pulling away in the second half to earn a 9-5 win at Don Roux Field.

Lewiston (13-1) will face Scarborough (13-1) at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium for the Class A title.

The Blue Devils counted on both preparation and possession to control a first half in which the teams combined for five goals.

“They had us scouted extremely well, on slides and our slide packages, and they were communicating,” said Deering attacker Carleton Allen, who scored two goals. “They knew which hands we were, right or left, they knew our plays, and they did extremely well.”

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Lewiston attacker Sam Cloutier agreed that preparation was vital for his team, which has a 10-game winning streak.

“We watched a lot of film on them (Deering), we knew who their (stars) were and we had a pretty good idea of who we were going to be up against,” said Cloutier, who scored three goals. “We had a lot of possession, so our defense could rest up, and when our D got a chance to play defense, they played great and we’d get the ball back and create offense.”

Curtis Robinson also scored three goals for Lewiston.

Cloutier gave the Devils a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first nine minutes.

Allen cut the lead to 2-1 with 2.8 seconds left in the first quarter, shoveling an underhand shot past Lewiston goalie Jesse Leeman. Elliott Chicoine and Allen traded goals in the second quarter as Lewiston took a 3-2 lead into halftime.

Lewiston broke it open by scoring four goals in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to take a 7-2 lead.

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The Rams (12-2) found themselves in unfamiliar territory.

“We’ve never really trailed like that before,” Allen said. “We’ve only trailed once, in one game at Kennebunk that we lost (a 6-4 defeat). A lot of us haven’t been in this spot before, with this much pressure.”

The Rams cut the lead to 7-4 on goals by Cody Marcroft (two goals) and Matt Flaherty before the Blue Devils answered with their final two goals.

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be contacted at 791-6415 or at:

rlenzi@pressherald.com

Twitter: rlenzi

 


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