Class A boys’ hockey state final: Rancourt’s rebound lifts Lewiston past Scarborough

LEWISTON — Jeromey Rancourt was the right guy, in the right place, at the right time.

Scarborough goalie Ross LeBlond made one save, then a second, but the third time was the charm for Lewiston, which toppled the Red Storm 2-1 for the Class A boys’ hockey state championship at Androscoggin Bank Colisee on Saturday night.

The win gives Lewiston its 21st Class A boys’ hockey title, but first since 2002. That 14-year drought was the second-longest in the history of the storied program.

“It’s a monkey off your back,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “But right now, I’m not even worried about the monkey on our back. These kids did it. We’re champions. And, hey, that’s all I need to say. They worked for it, and they deserved it.”

Rancourt led the North champion Blue Devils (17-2-2) in points during the regular season with 31, then added three assists in two playoff games leading up to Saturday’s state final. He added another on Lewiston’s first goal of the game.

It was his turn to do the scoring honors when the Blue Devils needed it most to end that long drought. Jon Sturgis blasted a shot from the right point, which LeBlond stopped. Then Alex Rivet got the rebound for a put-back shot, which LeBlond also stopped. Rancourt was at the left post for the next rebound, and he had the put-in shot.

LeBlond couldn’t stop it.

“Rivet tipped it in, and it went right to me off the goal stick, and I put it home,” Rancourt said. “It was right there. I went mind-blank. It was right there, I just put it in.”

That game-winning goal came with 29 seconds left, and Scarborough coach Norm Gagne used his timeout right after to try and draw up an answer.

“I wish we had a minute or two,” Gagne said. “With 29 seconds, what I wanted to do was just get the puck deep and get pucks on net.”

Yet the South champion Red Storm (16-3-3) had no answer. Lewiston won the ensuing draw and never let the puck get into its defensive zone before salting the final seconds away.

The two teams played to a pair of overtime draws during the regular season, including a game at the Colisee that saw Scarborough net the game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds. There was no repeat of that for the Blue Devils, who were finally able to finish off the defending champs.

Saturday’s state final also marked the first time during the season series that Lewiston scored first. It took 10 shots — and 10 minutes — but Rancourt started a perfectly executed play that ended with Joe Bisson beating LeBlond by the same left post that Rancourt did two periods later. Rancourt brought the puck into the offensive zone on the right side, then dropped a pass back to Rivet, who skated toward the net before finding Bisson, who missed both regular-season matchups with a broken collarbone.

The Red Storm went on their first power play just seconds later, firing two shots and bringing momentum into the second period.

“After the first period I felt that we were one shot away from tying it,” Gagne said.

The longtime coach — whose career has included a three-year stop in Lewiston — proved prophetic. Scarborough did score on its next shot. Eric Murray fed Jack Callahan along the left boards, and Callahan fired a shot that got past Lewiston goalie Jacob Strout just 33 seconds into the second period.

The final 14-plus minutes of the period featured no more goals, three power plays (two for Scarborough, one for Lewiston), and plenty of big hits. Scarborough captain Matt Caron and Strout were shaken up on separate plays minutes apart, and Callahan was down on the ice for a few minutes after getting cross-checked with two minutes left in the second. The Red Storm finished the period on the power play but couldn’t produce a go-ahead goal.

Gagne thought his team had a chance to get the go-ahead score early in the third, but Lewiston freshman Nick Bisson made a diving poke check at the blue line to stop a breakaway attempt by Scarborough’s Cam Nigro.

“I just felt that we were one quality shot away from winning this game. We just couldn’t get that shot, or that bounce,” Gagne said, adding that Bisson made a great play on the puck. “It’s just one of those nights the hockey gods weren’t with us tonight.”

The Blue Devils looked intent on winning the game in the third, firing a multitude of pucks at LeBlond (31 saves), most of which went just wide.

Many of those came on rushes before a full contingent of five skaters could get into the attacking zone. On the game-winning goal, however, the Blue Devils kept the puck in and moved it around before it made its way to Sturgis.

“That was the game plan, was get it deep and keep it in their zone, don’t let it out,” Rancourt said. “Put as many pucks to the net as we could.”

“After we lost to Bangor, and beat them in overtime, we ended up drawing them, we made an added emphasis about getting pucks to the net — which we usually do — but also getting our feet to the paint,” Belleau said. “Good goal-scorers put their two tips of their toes in the paint at least a couple times a shift, and that’s something we needed to work on. The kids bought into it, we worked hard on it for the last two weeks. It’s fitting that we were able to pop one that way.”

Belleau also called it fitting that Rancourt scored the game-winner, after lighting the lamp 12 times during the regular season. He also assisted on 19 others.

“He’d be the first one to tell you this was a team effort,” Belleau said. “These kids are special. This community is lucky to have them.”

Gagne said he walked over to congratulate Belleau after the win, knowing the heartbreaks Belleau has faced before.

Gagne ended his own heartbreak a year ago, breaking through with Scarborough for the first time. A repeat just wasn’t in the cards Saturday night.

“We made a couple of bad mistakes, and they took advantage of us,” Gagne said.

Lewiston made its share of mistakes in the game, and even throughout the year (Belleau mentioned a loss to Falmouth that humbled the team early on), but the team combined talent and hard work to bring home a long-awaited title.

“I can’t say enough about this group of kids,” Belleau said. “It’s something we’ll never forget being the team that did it after 14 years.”

“It’s huge,” Rancourt added. “Everybody that’s come through here, it’s a great tradition. I’m glad that our team could do it, we could do it for the seniors. To play in this tradition is unreal.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com