LEWISTON — Cheverus/Kennebunk/Old Orchard Beach spent much of the girls’ hockey state final in its own end Saturday but made the few times it broke out count.

Abby Lamontagne scored twice on counterattacks and Trinity Atwater stopped 31 shots to lead the Stags past previously unbeaten Lewiston 2-1 at Androscoggin Bank Colisee for their first state title in nine years.

“We’ve got Trinity, we’ve got Zoe Mazur and we’ve got Abby Lamontagne. And those three players gave us a puncher’s chance every night, and a supporting cast that just worked and worked and worked,” Stags Coach Scott Rousseau said.

Mazur led a defense for Cheverus (18-2-1) that didn’t give the Blue Devils (20-1) much space or many touches at rebounds when Atwater didn’t corral a shot.

“We had some good looks, and usually with 32 shots you figure you’ll get a little luck, too,” Lewiston Coach Ron Dumont said. “It just didn’t seem like the puck went our way, or whatever.”

Lamontagne put the Stags on the board just 3:23 into the game, taking a feed out of the neutral zone from Sophia Pompeo and beating a defender one-on-one before deking goalie Camree St. Hilaire.

“In a way, I was really kind of hoping to have kept the game a bit slower and stay 0-0,” Rousseau said. “In an odd way, it kind of accelerated the level of pace of the game, and it, in a weird way, didn’t work in our favor. It brought Lewiston with a really heavy push after that, and the whole game long.”

The Blue Devils didn’t get a shot on net before Lamontagne scored but finished the first period with the final 12 shots after that. They put 12 more on Atwater in the second period but still could get nothing past her, not even on a rush from freshman Leah Landry and the ensuing rebound that Atwater had to sprawl to save.

The Stags’ scoring chances dried up in the third period, but not before Lamontagne made it 2-0. Pompeo found her open on a three-on-two rush, and Lamontagne fired a shot past St. Hilaire from the left circle.

“We just knew we had to win all of our one-on-one battles. Just start small, play defensive, and then once we get it out of our zone, we can go have fun in their zone,” Lamontagne said.

But much like Lamontagne’s first goal, the second one got the Blue Devils going, and Rousseau brought up the old “two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey” cliche.

Lewiston pulled within 2-1 just before the midpoint of the final period. Brie Dube passed to Sara Robert behind the net, and Robert then fed Gemma Landry, who took two whacks near the left post to poke the puck past Atwater.

“We get the first one, I said ‘OK, now we can settle in,'” Dumont said. “But the dang thing just wouldn’t go in.”

Dumont pulled St. Hilaire (10 saves) for an extra attacker with one minute to play, but Mazur and Lamontagne blocked shots, with Lamontagne stepping in front of a Grace Dumond slap shot in the final seconds.

“We just had to sacrifice ourselves for the team, and that’s what we prepared for, and that’s what I had to do, and that’s what other girls had to do,” Lamontagne said. “When you do it, it feels great, because we knew we would never forgive ourselves if it got by. So you’ve just got to take one for the team.”

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