LEWISTON — Scarborough entered the girls’ hockey season with exciting potential.

But that meant little to the Red Storm until they transferred their favored status on paper to becoming champions on the ice.

They did that Saturday night. Led by Elizabeth Gross’ sizzle and Devan Kane’s resolve, Scarborough completed an unbeaten season by beating Lewiston 3-1 at the Colisee for the state title.

Gross scored three goals and Kane made 19 saves, several against Grade A chances.

Jenna Block, Sami Shoebottom and Rachael Wallace each recorded an assist.

Gross gave Scarborough a 2-0 lead in the first period. Lewiston made it 2-1 with a power-play goal in the third period, but Gross sealed it with an empty-netter.

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It’s the first state title for the Red Storm (21-0), who became only the second girls’ hockey team to finish without a loss, following Cheverus in 2010.

Lewiston finished 15-5-1, with three of those losses coming to Scarborough. The Blue Devils were making a record third appearance in the title game and were aiming for their second championship.

“This is so fun,” said Gross, a freshman. “That’s the most intense game I’ve ever played in.”

 

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The Red Storm looked young early, making some ill-advised passes. One went right to the stick of Lewiston’s Mikaela St. Laurent, skating into the slot.

Kane blocked her shot, but Makaela Field was right there for the rebound. Kane made that save, sliding her right pad over.

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“She’s a proven, top-notch goalie,” Lewiston Coach Ron Dumont said.

The Red Storm looked young early, making some ill-advised passes. One went right to the stick of Lewiston’s Mikaela St. Laurent, skating into the slot.

Kane blocked her shot, but Makaela Field was right there for the rebound. Kane made that save, sliding her right pad over.

“She’s a proven, top-notch goalie,” Lewiston Coach Ron Dumont said.

Lewiston, which shut out both Greely and Leavitt/Edward Little in the playoffs, allowed Gross room to skate. On the first goal, Kent poked the puck toward Gross in the neutral zone. She beat two Blue Devils to the puck.

“I gained momentum around our blue line and just went in as fast as I could,” said Gross, who then flew past two Lewiston defenders and fired a shot past the blocker side of goalie Paige Fontaine, at 4:06.

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Lewiston came right back with another quality chance two minutes later. Allison Frechette hit Corinne Laberge for a point-blank shot Kane swallowed up.

Two minutes after that, Frechette put a good shot toward Kane. Same result.

Laberge followed with a breakaway. While the Red Storm chased her, Laberge charged in but shot high.

Fontaine was also flashing her pads and glove, stopping Scarborough’s chances, including a shot and rebound try from Shoebottom.

The Red Storm made it 2-0 when Shoebottom fed Gross outside the crease. Fontaine had position, but Gross roofed a backhander over her shoulder at 12:50 for a 2-0 lead.

“At 2-0 that could have turned messy if these kids didn’t have heart,” Dumont said.

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Lewiston kept coming, but Scarborough’s defense – led by Brenna Kent, Lily Nygren, Riley McKeown and Block, reduced the quality chances.

Scarborough’s second line of Alyssa Hulst, Wallace and Kristen Murray played a solid end-to-end game.

“We played defense first,” Wallace said.

Lewiston got on the board during its first power play. Laberge’s shot through traffic bounced in at 4:56.

The goal put a spark into Lewiston’s skates, and Scarborough Coach Caitlin Cashman called a timeout to settle her team down.

“Lewiston was hungry. That goal gave them a lot of energy,” Cashman said. “We wanted to settle down.”

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Lewiston pulled Fontaine with 49 seconds left, but Gross scored and soon the Scarborough players were celebrating.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH


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