LEWISTON — It was the break Lewiston needed to keep the game close.
An apparent Hampden Academy goal off a penalty kick that wasn’t gave the Blue Devils a second chance Saturday night. Instead of being down by two, Lewiston was just one shot away from the equalizer.
“Fortunately, the penalty kick they scored didn’t count,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “That was our break.”
Lewiston couldn’t capitalize on that opportunity against the Broncos. Hampden ultimately took advantage of a shorthanded Blue Devils club and broke the game open for a 4-0 win.
“We’re coming off a loss to Bangor the other day, 2-1” said Hampden coach Josh Stevens. “We felt that should have been a win. Nothing broke our way. This was really an opportunity for us to get back on track.”
Hampden (2-1) got all four goals from junior Tristan Gardner and a solid defensive effort that limited Lewiston’s scoring chances. The Blue Devils were also playing a man down for the final 50-plus minutes of the game because of one of two red cards Lewiston had.
“Hampden’s a good team,” said McGraw. “They played a good game. They played a much better game.”
Already leading 1-0, the Broncos were threatening late in the first half. After keeper Austin Wing made one save, he was down and out of position. A Hampden shot was headed for an open net when Ibrahim Mohamed was called for a hand ball in the penalty area with 12:36 left in the half. That gave the Broncos a penalty kick and left Lewiston a man down the rest of the game.
Hampden’s Ben Foster took the penalty kick. His shot was saved by a diving Wing. On the rebound, an inadvertent whistle with nobody in possession stopped play, just as Hampden put the loose ball in the net.
Instead of getting a goal, play was called dead and a drop ball restarted play, much to Hampden’s displeasure.
“If we had gotten the second goal in the first half, I think that would have taken the pressure off,” said Stevens. “Going into the second half, there was a little bit of pressure and we knew if we got one more, we’d be alright.”
The break gave Lewiston (2-1) a chance to stay within reach. Though the Blue Devils started to move the ball better after a slow start, the prime scoring chances were limited.
“I thought the defense was outstanding,” said Gardner. “They were working their butts off the whole game.”
Lewiston’s best bid came off a shot by Abdibaari Hersi that went over the net. Most of the Blue Devils’ best scoring chances came later in the half when the game was out of reach.
“I thought if we played like I thought we were capable of playing, we could get the opportunities to tie it,” said McGraw.
Instead, it was Gardner scoring with 19:16 left. He shook off a defender in front and won possession of the ball. He chipped it past the keeper for the 2-0 lead.
Gardner headed in his third of the night with 16:30 left and finished the scoring with 11:37 remaining.
“I thought we really played well as a team,” said Gardner. “Against Bangor, I thought we didn’t work together enough. We were trying to do too much by ourselves. I thought we worked better as a team tonight.”
Lewiston had some quality bids late in the game but Hampden’s keeper Isaiah Bess and then Kyle Townsend made some nice saves.
“We’re a lot better,” said McGraw. “I think we can play better than that.”
Lewiston’s Hassan Hussein was given a red card after the game for an incident that occurred while the team’s shook hands. Both of Lewiston’s red carded players will be suspended for the Blue Devils next game.
Hampden started the game strong and produced numerous chances. Meanwhile, Lewiston came out flat and was getting beaten to the ball. The Broncos had the wind to their advantage in the first half but used some hard work and hustle to keep Lewiston off its game.
Gardner got the first goal with 27:07 left in the half when he broke by a handful of defenders for the open shot.
“They’re a fantastic team,” said Stevens. “Coach McGraw coaches them up real well. One thing we try to do is take them out of their game a little bit. We know they want to pass around and play a slow game. We want to speed up the tempo and have to make them work.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
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