Lewiston, a program marked by myriad coaching changes and spotty success in the past decade, simply wanted to put on a show that six seniors playing in their final home game would someday remember with pride.

So it ended up being one of those rare days on which both teams could celebrate hitting the mark after a 4-2 Vikings win at Franklin Pasture.

Oxford Hills (9-4) scored three goals in a nine-minute stretch late in the first half to put this one out of reach.

“I thought we did really well,” said Oxford Hills senior Caity Bernier, who knocked in one goal and was credited with another that bounced into the cage off a Lewiston defender. “We were really intense.”

Good thing, because in a stunning reversal of all that happened earlier, Lewiston (2-11) unleashed everything left in its arsenal after intermission.

Jenessa Talarico, one of six Devils whose career will end after Monday’s short trip to Edward Little, broke up the shutout with 10:31 remaining and scored again with just over a minute to play.

“Might was well go out with a bang,” Talarico said.

Sophomore Shaima Naji set up both Talarico tallies.

Tayla Smedberg assisted all three first-half strikes for the Vikings. She also tucked an insurance goal between Talarico’s two with just over seven minutes left.

Despite the Vikings’ early territorial domination, the defensive efforts of Laurianne Murphy, Olivia Norton, Erin Hubbard and Brie Wilson kept Lewiston even.

Oxford Hills finally broke through with 11:50 to go. Erin Morton tracked down a loose ball to keep the play alive. Smedberg rolled in an arrow-straight offering from the top of the circle, and August Abbott tipped it in.

“This is our second-to-last regular season game, so we were all just ready to play,” Bernier said. “We’ve had a little trouble with (slow starts) in our last couple of games, but we’ve started picking it up again.”

Jesse Murch’s defense broke up Lewiston’s first extended offensive possession of the day and led to Oxford Hills’ second goal.

Smedberg again sent the ball through traffic with a hard hit. The Devils’ back arrived on the scene to confront Bernier, but her foot and stick caromed the ball past goalkeeper Kaylyn Labonte (12 first-half saves).

Bernier and Smedberg collaborated in more conventional fashion at the 3:11 mark.

Oxford Hills owned advantages of 15-0 in shots and 3-1 in corners at the break. Second-half totals were 8-3 (shots) and 10-0 (corners) in Lewiston’s favor.

“We dominated the second half,” Lewiston coach Randy Richardson said. “They were beating Oxford Hills to the ball. They were using pass combinations. They were hustling.”

“We all noticed that on the bench,” Bernier added. “They just came out ready in the second half.”

Talarico’s first goal came courtesy of a rebound after Naji’s shot bounced off goalie Shannon Fillebrown’s pads.

Smedberg followed her own shot to supply the response for the Vikings, who appear locked into a quarterfinal playoff game at Lawrence. No. 5 Oxford Hills hosts No. 3 Mt. Blue in Monday’s KVAC regular-season finale.

“That should be a 50-50 game,” Bernier said. “Hopefully we (win).”

Lewiston aims to finish a close-but-not-quite campaign by completing a sweep of EL. In addition to a last-minute, 1-0 loss to Oxford Hills in the season-opener, the Devils have dropped two games in overtime.

“I think we realized, especially the seniors, that we don’t really have that much left of the season and it was going to be our last time here,” Wilson said. “So why not do our best?”

koakes@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link