St. Dominic Academy and Edward Little have seen each other nearly every day during the week for the past three months. 

They both call the Norway Savings Bank Arena home, and their locker rooms are separated by just a few feet. For the most part, the two teams get along well. 

That friendliness will take a back seat when the two Auburn teams take the short road trip across the bridge to square off at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Saints defeated the Red Eddies, 4-3, in overtime in their regular season meeting on Feb. 14. 

“You’d better respect them,” St. Dom’s coach Steve Ouellette said of Edward Little. “They’re very dangerous. They have a little something at every position from guys who put pucks in the net, some solid D and some goaltending as well. You have to play to the end and they’re going to battle until the end. They’re on a high. They’ve had some big wins this year.”

The Red Eddies (10-9) are coming off the senior class’ first playoff victory in which they knocked off Lawrence/Skowhegan, 6-1, in a regional quarterfinal. The Saints (15-2-1) enter the regional semifinals winners of five straight. They haven’t lost to an Eastern opponent all season. 

Top-seeded St. Dom’s is the favorite, but No. 5 Edward Little has no problem playing the role of the underdog. 

“We’ve been the underdog all season long,” Edward Little coach Craig Latuscha said. “We’ve faced adversity this year as other teams have. To play a team like St. Dom’s in the playoffs is the ultimate prize. That’s awesome. Win or lose, we’re going to give our best effort and we’re hopefully going to give them a good effort and a challenge.” 

The Saints have an edge in the experience factor. The 11 seniors have been to two state championship games, most recently one year ago. The Red Eddies are making their first appearance in a regional semifinal game in several years. 

“We’ve got an experienced group,” Ouellette said. “They’ve acted mature and experienced all year. I expect them to continue to act in that way moving forward. A lot of these guys having been there know what’s at stake and hopefully they bring their ‘A’ game.” 

Both teams have their share of scoring threats. St. Dom’s senior Brad Berube leads the team with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists). Right behind him in the goals category is classmate Caleb Labrie with 15 in 17 games. Junior Austin Roy is third in goals with 11 despite missing five games this year. 

The Red Eddies are led by a pair of seniors in Cade Chapman and Branden Dyer. Chapman finished the regular season with 31 points (12 g, 19 a) and tacked on a goal and an assist in the quarterfinals. Dyer was second in scoring with 27 points (10 g, 17 a) before adding a goal and an assist in the quarterfinals, as well. 

It maybe uncharted territory for Edward Little, but it won’t take the moment for granted. 

“There’s no bigger game than playing St. Dom’s or Lewiston High School in the playoffs,” Latuscha said. “It’s a rivalry game. I’m assuming the place will be packed. Our kids are going to be excited for the game. If our kids show up to play like I know they can, you never know.” 

The Saints have had nine days to rest and heal any lingering bumps and bruises. The bye has been beneficial and they don’t believe the long layoff will have any lingering effects early in the game. 

“I’m hoping we come out excited, ready to play,” Ouellette said. “I do hope that experience comes through where guys who have been there understand the moment, the crowd and so fourth and are able to zone it out when they need to and feed off it when they need to.” 

Lewiston seeks continued success against Bangor

Lewiston and Bangor are a bit more secluded from one another compared to Edward Little and St. Dom’s when it comes to location.

The two schools are separated by more than a hundred miles, but the score is always close as can be when they meet on the ice. 

The second-seeded Blue Devils (13-5-1) won both meetings during the regular season, a 7-3 decision in Lewiston on Jan. 24 and a 5-4 overtime victory on Feb. 16. In the latter match, Lewiston trailed 4-1 early in the second period before rattling off four unanswered goals. Jeromey Rancourt tied the game at 4:41 of the third period before Brendon Croteau capped the comeback 46 seconds into overtime. 

The script was nearly flipped in their first encounter after Lewiston raced out to a 3-1 lead before the Rams netted two goals in the final minute of the second period to square the contest. But the Blue Devils responded with four unanswered goals in the third. 

Even with two wins against Bangor in their back pocket, the Blue Devils know that past success doesn’t necessarily guarantee the same in the playoffs. 

“I don’t even look at the other two games,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “Obviously you can draw upon some of the things you did well, some of the things you didn’t do well, but other than that try not to focus to much on the prior records and focus on the things you did well. If you continue to do the things you did well, whether it was against Bangor or the other teams, then we should be fine. We’re going to have our hands full. Bangor’s a good hockey club.” 

It’s been score-by-committee for the Blue Devils against the Rams this season. Eleven skaters recorded at least a point and nine tallied two or more. Rancourt, who leads the team in scoring with 29 points, and Joe Bisson each have four points against Bangor this year. Rancourt has three goals and an assist, while Bisson tallied a goal and three assists. Croteau, Kyle Morin each lit the lamp twice. 

The No. 3 Rams (13-6) have been a little less spread out across the stat sheet against the Blue Devils as seven skaters have recorded points. Ben Crichton’s had the most success, netting a hat trick in their most recent meeting. Trevor DeLaite has scored a goal in each game and Sam Kenney registered a goal and two assists. 

“We know if we play our game we give ourselves a chance to win,” Belleau said. “We also know when we haven’t played our game, teams like Bangor and the caliber and quality that Bangor has have beaten us. We know it’s a one-game series, the record in the past doesn’t mean anything. We have to get it done on Saturday and if we don’t get it done on Saturday it doesn’t matter if we beat them twice.” 

The Blue Devils are guarding against overconfidence as this year’s playoffs have shown how difficult it is to have success against the same opponent three times in one year. Scarborough knocked off Biddeford, which was 1-0-1 against the Red Storm in the regular season, in the Western A quarterfinals and Edward Little figured out Lawrence/Skowhegan in the Eastern A quarterfinals. 

That doesn’t mean a team can’t win three straight meetings because that’s already been done. Noble/Wells completed the sweep against South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete, as did Yarmouth with Greely in the Western B quarterfinals. 

Still, having those two wins serves as a potential mental advantage if anything else. 

“It’s a question of having confidence in what you’ve done all year, both against Bangor and otherwise, understanding the mistakes you’ve made against teams in the past, making sure you minimize those mistakes,” Belleau said. “If we do those types of things maybe we can build on the confidence we have from beating them in the past, but the reality is we have to execute and we have to show up.”