Girls’ Hockey: Lewiston sets out on a different path

LEWISTON — The microcosm of this year’s Lewiston/Monmouth/Oak Hill girls’ hockey team can be found in the crease.

Last year the Blue Devils knew exactly what they had in all-state senior goaltender Paige Fontaine. In front of Fontaine was a loaded roster that knew it was good. Head coach Ron Dumont said the road was paved for that team to win a state championship. The Blue Devils did.

Different year, different team.

In the crease this year Dumont thinks he has another “really good” goalie in sophomore Meagan Gosselin. But Gosselin hasn’t spent a full year as a high school varsity team’s No. 1 netminder.

That sentiment fits the bill for the Blue Devils as a whole. They have talent, but haven’t proven anything yet.

“We obviously want to get as far as we can, but it’s a different team, we’ve lost a lot of people,” senior captain Corinne Laberge said. “So we’re just going to compete as hard and go as far as we can with that, with what we have.”

“Last year was a special year,” Dumont said. “I think we knew right off the bat what we had: We had a lot of kids with a lot of experience.”

Experience is something the Blue Devils lack this year. That smoothly paved road to the state final they had last year is a different road this year.

“This year we’re going to have a lot of bumps and bruises,” Dumont said.” It’s not going to be a straight path. We’re going to maybe take a different road here and there.”

Dumont isn’t worrying about keeping the puck out of his own net. He said Gosselin, who saw some playing time last year as a freshman, is “as good as anyone around.” In front of her is a young (two sophomores, two freshmen), but talented defense.

This team just lacks the same kind of firepower that last year’s state championship team had. Gone is a core of seniors as well as some other players that moved on to prep school.

“Our challenge is going to be to score goals,” Dumont said. “We’re going to have to find different ways to try and win. It’s not going to be the same way as the other team.”

“We just have to figure out how to work together to get the puck in the net as often as we can,” Laberge, the team’s first-line center, said.

While the team figures out its scoring, it will have to rely on its young back end to keep opponents’ scoring to a minimum. That starts with Gosselin, who Dumont said is “cool as a cucumber.”

“I think I was definitely prepared for this year,” Gosselin said. “(Paige) was a really good mentor toward me last year. And it’s going to be tough to fill her shoes, definitely. That’s a lot of pressure, but I think I can handle it.”

Gosselin said she thinks the young defense in front of her will “be able to get the job done, definitely.”

The Blue Devils were the team to beat from day one last year. That’s not the case going into this season — the league is wide open according to Dumont — but the coach wants this year’s team to be one that “matters.”

“Success for me is that we become a team that means something, and that every time we play someone … that we compete,” Dumont said.

That will be the seniors’ biggest contribution this year.

“Definitely just got to motivate them to compete,” Laberge said. “We know what it takes to get there. But other people have to experience that. It’s just hard work, basically. They have to want it.”

A season ago, the Blue Devils’ goal was an easy one: championship or bust. Laberge wants to get back there as a senior, and wants her younger teammates to experience playing in a regional final, but this year’s players understand they can only focus on the process.

“I’ve set no bar,” Dumont said. “I’m realistic, and I told them, ‘You may not be in the state game.’ If we compete in every game, we’ll be where we’re supposed to be for the level of where we’re at as a team.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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