BIDDEFORD —  Lewiston came prepared to the Biddeford Ice Arena Tuesday evening and before the second period was in, had racked up two goals, one fresh before the buzzer, to Biddeford’s one. The match got off to an intense start from the get-go, and the dull roar of the crowd could be heard outside the fortress-like arena.

Though Biddeford started controlling the house by opening with an unassisted goal at 0:57 by Colin Petit, it may have only served to tempt the Devils. Lewiston’s Sam Frechette scored less than a minute after Petit, assisted by Dustin Larochelle.

Lewiston’s Nick Bisson, Jeromey Rancourt, Alex Rivet, Joe Bisson, and Sam Story formed a cohesive side and brought the puck onto the Biddeford ice too close to home for comfort through much of the first period.

The second period brought play out of the Biddeford goal side more often, but the Tigers spent a significant amount of time chasing the puck all the way back to behind their goal when the Lewiston defense catapulted it into no man’s land.

Lewiston, who got off a shot on the Biddeford goal within the first 10 seconds of the second period, continued the trend and attached another goal onto their lead with more than nine minutes remaining, 3-1. Lewiston’s Alex Robert made the goal past Biddeford’s sophomore goalie Justin Larnerd.

Regardless, Larnerd continued to distinguish himself as a formidable opponent to any offense.

Ricky Ruck, another reliable Biddeford power, was often seen skating off with the puck with three men chasing. Ruck engaged fans in a rollercoaster of emotion, getting tripped up on the last moment of the occasional breakaway as the Lewiston Devil pack caught up, biting at his heels.

Biddeford head coach Jason Tremblay said, “going into the third, I told them we needed to change the different looks and the powerplay.. We made some key saves when we had to and our goalie played very well tonight. The kids worked very hard tonight.”

The third period did not hold a great comeback for Biddeford, but they did slow down the Blue Devils’ pace. Lewiston’s Cody Doyon added the final nail in the coffin at at 9:36 with an assist from Dustin Larochelle.

Post-game, Tremblay said, “It’s a measuring stick. It’s the sixth game of the season, they’re a strong team and they came in and.. We got outplayed, we got outskilled we got outworked a little bit. That was a tough part. We can’t get outworked.”

Lewiston head coach Jamie Belleau said of the success, “we created a lot of scoring opportunities.. We controlled a lot of the play up and down. We had a lot of success on our rebound coverage.. The reality is, I would’ve much rather have our kids play five on five and control the game well and we can’t get away with those penalties long term.”

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