LEWISTON — With a big early-season victory already in the rearview mirror, Edward Little’s coaching staff tried the best it could to keep its team motivated.

“If someone had watched us play (against Cony), and then watched us play (Tuesday), they’d probably ask, ‘What happened to the team that played the other day?” EL coach Greg Perkins said.

On the other sideline, rival Lewiston had a rough outing against Brewer in its first matchup, and faced the prospect of another tough one against the Eddies, who’ve had their way with the Devils in recent years.

“We were a little worried about how the kids would bounce back,” Lewiston coach Amie Sherry said.

One part hungry underdog and another part comfortable contender made for one whole, back-and-forth, evenly-played field hockey contest at Lewiston High School. Edward Little’s Miranda Martin netted a pair of goals in the second half to lift her squad to a 3-0 win, its second of the season.

“We’ll take it,” Perkins said. “They’re obviously in a building position, and we hope to be competitive. No matter how hard you try to stress it, it’s tough to get the point across all the time.”

The Blue Devils’ Achilles heel on this day was their inability to transition cleanly through the midfield. Edward Little’s hitters struck the ball clean more often than not, and put pressure on Lewiston’s back line and new keeper, Allison Lafreniere. For the most part, that group was up to the task.

“(Lafreniere) played great and we did a good job, for the most part, helping her out on the back end,” Sherry said.

The Lewiston keeper finished with 14 saves on the afternoon, and the defense stopped five or six more balls labeled for the back of the cage.

Edward Little applied much of the early pressure, and came away with the 1-0 lead when Emily Ranucci rattled the goal on a goalmouth scramble just 3:27 into the contest.

Lewiston (0-2) earned its first shot on goal nearly halfway through the first half, but when the pressure came, it came in waves. Saba Naji ripped a shot off the inside of the right post, nearly equalizing the game.

After a halftime pep talk, the Eddies (2-0) returned to the field with more focus. Miranda Martin netted the first of her two in the second half 7:01 into the frame on another scramble in front. The first shot came from outside the arc, popped into the air and landed at Martin’s feet, where she drove it the rest of the way into the cage.

“We did a great job holding on and playing with them for the most part,” Sherry said, “right until the end of the game.”

As time wound down, Martin added her second, with 5:23 to play.

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