Nearly 45 shutout minutes? Pretty solid. Seven first-half goals, even after Brunswick goalie Mikaela Aschbrenner robbed the Blue Devils of at least that many? It certainly looked like progress.

The Devils coasted to a 9-2 Class A North and KVAC victory in the season opener for both teams at Don Roux Field.

“We’ve spent most of our time working on defense. Being a football guy, that’s what we start with,” Lewiston coach Skip Capone said. “Because of the weather, we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time on our offense. We’ve got some kids who can play. We spread the scoring out.”

Senior Kristina Blais and freshman Christine Chasse led Lewiston with three goals apiece.

Chasse capped her hat trick with 1:35 remaining in the first half. Blais added a goal seven minutes after intermission for an 8-0 lead.

Two freshmen starred for the Dragons. Aschbrenner made 17 saves, many of them robbing Blais from point-blank range. Jenna Brooks scored twice in the final 5:02 to break up the shutout.

“I’m happy with our transitions in the midfield. I’m happy with how our defense held them out,” Brunswick coach Alex Sullivan said. “They’ve got some great cutters, some great drivers. Overall I’m happy with our performance.”

Sasha LeClair, Tawni Zamrock and Dacia Bail each added a goal for Lewiston.

The Devils held a modest 1-0 lead until consecutive goals from Chasse opened the floodgates just past the 10-minute mark.

“I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Capone said. “We haven’t scrimmaged in 10 days. Now we’ve got some things we can fix, especially on offense.”

Defensively, the Devils didn’t let the Dragons gain any momentum, even when Aschbrenner’s flurry of stops gave them a brief spark.

Capone credited the combination of junior Morgan Eliasen and senior Alasia Branche for that stifling effort, as well as senior Emily Gosselin in her initial varsity start.

“This is our third year in the zone defense that we play, so they’ve figured it out,” he said. “We’ve got three or four girls there who are pretty good. Morgan Eliasen is outstanding, and Alasia Branche in the middle is kind of like our quarterback or middle linebacker out there. She gets everybody set up, and the kids have bought into it.”

Lewiston goalies Kaylyn Labonte and Monica Field combined for six saves.

The Dragons featured only four seniors on a roster of 17.

“We’re coming off a big loss (to graduation) last year. We’ve got a young team and we’re excited to finally put them to the test in game situations,” Sullivan said. “We’re a pretty small team this year with our numbers, so we’re overcoming fast feet and tiredness.”

koakes@sunjournal.com