Scarborough’s title quest falls short against Lewiston

PORTLAND—There was no fairy tale ending for Scarborough’s girls’ hockey team.

The Red Storm, after a spirited and dramatic run through the South Region, finally met their match in the state final Saturday afternoon at Troubh Ice Arena.

In the form of the reigning and now repeat champion Lewiston Blue Devils.

Scarborough, behind its standout senior goalie Ariella Swett, hung tough in the first period, but at the 3:36 mark of the second period, senior Leah Landry finally solved the standout keeper and the Blue Devils were ahead to stay.

Senior Lilly Gish then scored on a rebound and 9:33 of the second and Lewiston had some breathing room.

The Red Storm weren’t able to muster much offense to speak of all day and despite some promising chances, couldn’t answer in the third period, as the Blue Devils got a late empty net goal from Landry and went on to a 3-0 victory.

Lewiston won its second consecutive state championship, fourth all-time, finished 17-2 and ended Scarborough’s memorable season at 12-6-1 in the process.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” said Red Storm coach Taylor Fowler. “We’re upset to not win, but we’re proud we made it this far. The girls did everything we could.”

Not to be

Scarborough had a solid regular season, then saved its best for last, defeating No. 6 Biddeford (4-1) in the quarterfinals, second-ranked Cheverus (1-0, in a triple-overtime thriller) in the semifinals and finally top-seeded Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland (3-1) in Wednesday’s regional final to advance (see sidebar for links to previous game stories).

Lewiston was the favorite this season and didn’t disappoint, winning all but two regular season games before dispatching No. 5 St. Dom’s (10-1) and second-seeded Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland (3-0) to advance.

Way back on Dec. 15, Scarborough won, 4-2, at Lewiston, but the Blue Devils returned the favor Feb. 3 with a 3-0 victory in Gorham.

The teams met once before in the playoffs, when the Red Storm prevailed, 3-1, in the 2014 state final, to win their lone championship.

Saturday, Scarborough hoped for a second, but just couldn’t generate enough offense, while Lewiston did what it needed to do to capture another crown.

Swett first made her presence felt just over a minute in, denying Gish.

Senior Evelyn Boardman hoped to put the Red Storm in front at 2:19, but her shot was denied by Blue Devils junior goalie Kim McLaughlin.

After a deflected puck fell right in front to freshman Toree St. Hilaire, her bid was stopped by Swett.

Landry then just missed and senior Charlotte Cloutier’s shot was denied by Swett.

Scarborough then got a couple looks, but senior Meagan Donovan’s backhander was saved and Boardman missed just wide.

After Swett made a glove save on a shot from senior Rebecca Lussier, the Red Storm went on the power play, but couldn’t score, getting one good look, a shot from senior Ashley Farrington, which was saved by McLaughlin.

Late in the period, Swett made a kick save on a shot from freshman Sadie Morgan and after one period, the game remained scoreless.

Lewiston then found some offense in the second period to take control.

At 3:36, Landry won the puck on the right side, skated in and even though Swett cut off her angle, she managed to roof a shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.

“We wanted to get the first goal,” Landry said. “We knew it would be a tough game and we shouldn’t get down if we didn’t score right away. Coming into the second period, we wanted to put a goal in quick to get momentum and that’s what we did.”

Scarborough had a chance to answer on the power play, but couldn’t generate a shot. The Blue Devils had a short-handed chance, but after sneaking around the cage, junior Leah Dube was denied by Swett.

Lewiston then doubled its lead at 9:33, when St. Hilaire set up Gish for a shot which was blocked, but Gish pounced on the loose puck and sent it into the net for a 2-0 advantage.

“It’s really important for us to show up every game and it’s great to have different players score for us and step up when we need goals,” Landry said. “Leah Dube did that the other night. Lilly and I happened to score tonight.”

Late in the period, Boardman had a shot saved and Swett denied Landry on a rush and the contest went to the second intermission, with the Blue Devils in command.

Early in the third period, the Red Storm had a great chance to get back in the game when the puck popped free to Donovan by the left post, but her shot was saved by McLaughlin.

Boardman then had a shot blocked, senior Lillian Finley had a rush broken up, Morgan broke up a rush from senior Calynn Gendreau and after weaving through the defense, Boardman had a shot saved by McLaughlin.

With Swett holding down the fort at the other end and giving her team hope, Scarborough kept the pressure on.

With 4:40 to play Gendreau delivered a nice centering pass, but no one was there to get it and McLaughlin fell on it.

A minute later, a tripping penalty on Landry gave the Red Storm one last-ditch chance, but after a timeout, senior Morgan Scoville’s promising shot was saved by McLaughlin, then Scoville had a shot blocked by Cloutier.

After McLaughlin saved a shot from Donovan, Scarborough went on the power play again at 13:25 and pulled Swett, but Lewiston delivered the coup de grace when Landry stole the puck and from just inside the red line, fired the puck into the empty net for the dagger and a 3-0 lead.

“It felt great to get that third one,” said Landry. “A 2-0 lead was a decent lead but the third one solidified it, especially that late. Initially, I was just trying to send the puck deep, then it bounced off the ref, so I got a second chance and slipped it in.”

The Blue Devils ran out the clock from there and at 4:35 p.m., celebrated the championship.

“It feels great to win,” Landry said. “I think we would have had a great chance last year too. We’ve waited for this all season. I knew we had potential with the players we have this year. To share this experience with all the other seniors and wrap my senior up on this note feels great.”

“I was really pleased with the seniors,” said Lewiston coach Ron Dumont. “They were worthy of this. It’s a great group of kids. It’s a smaller group than before, but they just connected.”

Lewiston finished with a 27-11 shots advantage and got 11 saves from McLaughlin.

Quite a run

The Red Storm got 24 saves from Swett in her swan song, but went 0-for-4 on the power play.

“Ariella’s given us a chance to win every game,” Fowler said. “Lewiston has great shooters. We tried to keep them outside as much as could, but they wound up finding some room.”

Scarborough will be decimated by graduation, as nine of the 13 players on the roster are seniors.

“The nine seniors have been with me since I started my coaching career,” Fowler said. “. I told them I’m proud of them and we didn’t get this far without them and to not hang their heads.

“I’m going to guess we’ll be a co-op next year, but the future is unknown.”