LEWISTON — The battle between Falmouth and Lewiston was expected to go down to the wire, but nobody expected the ending the game play out like it did.

The Blue Devils nursed a two goal lead for 13 of the final 15 minutes, but held on to a 5-4 victory at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in a rematch of last season’s state championship game.

“That was an example of some of the mistakes we made,” Lewiston coach Jamie Belleau said. “We didn’t take care of the puck particularly well and we didn’t win battles on the boards, we weren’t getting pucks deep. We weren’t chipping pucks out and made some uncharacteristic mistakes, but look we will learn from them.”

With Lewiston up 4-2, Kyler Kaserman got the Yachtsmen within one when he stepped into a blast in the high slot on a failed clearing attempt and ripped it past Lewiston keeper Conrad Albert with 1:56 to play.

Twenty-two seconds later, Falmouth went on a power play, but Lewiston’s Alex Robert appeared to hammer in the final nail with 16 seconds left when he fired the puck from the left half wall just inside his defensive zone and into the net at the far end of the rink.

Falmouth battled to the end, though, and again pulled within one when Brendan Hickey jammed home the puck with four seconds left. Theo Hembre had the assist. Falmouth then won the final faceoff, but the Hail Mary shot from the neutral zone sailed high and wide to end the game.

Tyler Baker gave the Yachtsmen a 1-0 lead four minutes into the contest.

Falmouth (4-3-1) had a golden opportunity to open the game up after Chad Lynch of Lewiston took a five-minute major for a check to the head. The Yachtsmen took advantage when Marcus Cady scored 8:52 into the contest.

“We should have taken advantage of that,” Falmouth coach Deron Barton said. “We had other opportunities, too, that we didn’t bury either.”

A Falmouth penalty at the end of the major killed the remaining time and the Blue Devils (6-0) capitalized on their man advantage. With 14 seconds remaining in the opening period, Owen Cox found the back of the cage on a dish from Alex Robert.

“That five-minute major kill was huge,” Belleau said. “They went up 1-0 and they had a five minute major and they scored right away. We were able to kill the rest of the major off. We got a power play and we capitalized. We showed some resilience coming back from two down.”

The Blue Devils went on their own five-minute power play in the second frame after Jack Kidder was called for a hit to the head. Jack Leblond tied the game when his shot found an opening between the near post and Yachtsmen goalie Sam Kidder. William Blanchette had the only assist.

Lewiston was 2-for-3 on the power play, while Falmouth was 1-for-4.

Evan Cox gave Lewiston its first lead when his shot trickled past Sam Kidder at the 12:16 mark, and with 1:24 remaining in the period, Sam Frechette stretched the lead to 4-2.

“We had a young goaltender in the net,” Barton said. “He gave up a couple soft goals and he could have folded, but he didn’t. He came back and he hung in there and gave us a chance in the third.”

Sam Kidder made 16 saves for Falmouth, while Albert stopped 19 to earn the win for Lewiston.

nfournier@sunjournal.com

Jack Kidder of Falmouth sends Owen Cox of Lewiston into the boards during the first period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Kyle Kaserman of Falmouth goes down to the ice while competing for the puck with Sam Frechette of Lewiston during the first period in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Owen Cox of Lewiston passes the puck up the ice during the first period of Wednesday’s match up against Falmouth in Lewiston on Wednesday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Cam Dionne, center, and Sam Frechette, left, of Lewiston turn up the ice against Marcus Cady, right, of Falmouth during the first period in Lewiston on Wednesday.  (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)