LEWISTON — There are many reasons for playing the game.

You play for fun, for competition and for the passion you have for the sport.

Coach Don Boucher played for all those reasons, and Monday night his St. Dom’s girls’ hockey team played the game for him.

Boucher died last Wednesday after a bout with cancer.  The Saints took the ice Monday night at Androscoggin Bank Colisee because they knew that’s what he would have done.

“We talked as a group and decided that Coach Boucher would want us to play,” said St. Dom’s coach Paul Gosselin. “We canceled on Friday and thought this would be a good start. We banded together well, but it’s been a long day.”

Though the Saints burst out to an early lead, Yarmouth roared back and claimed a 9-6 win.

Still, it was a victory for the Saints to take the ice despite a long and emotional day, which included Boucher’s memorial service Monday morning.

“We were all a little nervous,” said senior Kayla McLellan. “It’s been a hard day and a long week. But we just wanted to play it for him.”

With only 10 skaters dressed, two being goalies, St. Dom’s was shorthanded but played hard and pushed Yarmouth right to the end.

“Actually, I found on the ice that I felt like Coach was there,” said senior Emily Poulin. “I felt a few times that he was actually helping us. I was thinking about him the entire time, and I think we’ll be with us all season.”

Yarmouth defenender Caelainn Costell presented flowers to McLellan prior to the game. Yarmouth coach did the same, presenting flowers to the Boucher family.

“Everything I know and everything I do, I learned from him,” said Poulin.

The Saints then roared out to an early 3-0 lead on a pair of goals by Jessica Boulet and one from Kym Johnson.

“I think we were all just really mad,” said Poulin. “It fueled us and he’s basically our motivation for the season.”

Yarmouth scored on a late power play goal in the first to make it 3-1. Michelle Robichaud scored the first of her four goals.  She and Emily Johnson each had four goals and an assist.

“It was different coming out but we knew we were going to be playing as a team,” said McLellan. “That made it better.”

After an already emotional day and no intermission break after the first period, the Saints struggled in the second.

Yarmouth scored five goals in the first 7:23 and built a 7-3 at 12:11. The Yachtsmen outshot the Saints 14-2 in the second.

“We answered the call in the first period,” said Gosselin, who’s assisted by his son Tom and Don Boucher’s son Ryan. “We’ve got a small bench, and we’ve got some injuries. That made it difficult.”

Robichaud scored twice in the second while Johnson had three goals. Katie Brown, who finished with two goals and two assists, also tallied for Yarmouth in the second.

McLellan, who finished with three goals, added one late in the second to make it 7-4. Then after a Johnson goal to open the third, McLellan scored twice, but Yarmouth stifled any St. Dom’s rally with three power-play goals.

“We were just trying to get there emotions in check,” said Gosselin. “I’m really proud of the way they played. At the beginning of the game a lot of girls had jitters and were sick. It was just the experience of the week. So we didn’t really know what to expect.”

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