Girls' soccer: With backs against wall, Lewiston beats Edward Little

Edward Little’s Piper Norcross collides with Lewiston goalie Gemma Landry during the Blue Devils’ 2-0 win in Lewiston on Monday.

LEWISTON — The task was simple for the Lewiston girls’ soccer team: finish, or be finished.

The Blue Devils, with motivation that couldn’t be any higher, did finish. They finished off their regular season by finishing off their rivals, the Edward Little Red Eddies, in a 2-0 win at Garcelon Field on Monday afternoon.

Lewiston entered its regular-season finale with a 2-7-4 record and on the outside looking in at the Class A North playoffs. Losing meant the end of the season definitively, not to mention another loss to EL, and a less-than-fond farewell for the Blue Devils’ seniors. A win meant a shot at the postseason, depending on what other chips fell which way Monday.

“Today there was a lot of things that they were playing for,” Lewiston coach Brant Remington said. “It was Senior Game, Battle of the Bridge, a playoff spot. We had to win. I don’t think a tie was going to be good enough.”

“We really wanted this,” senior captain Taylor Chamberlain said. “We got as excited as possible, and we took this to heart that we really wanted this game and had to get this game.”

The Blue Devils held up their end of the bargain..

Chamberlain put the fired-up hosts on the board 5:35 into the game, finishing on a pass from Megan St. Cyr.

“Playing on turf is a little bit different, and when they scored that goal when we made a mistake, when she was unmarked at the far post, most girls are going to score the goal like that,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said. “When they scored that goal we were kind of in shock.”

The Red Eddies (6-7-1) tried to shake off the early deficit, and they had their chances, but just couldn’t take advantage of any of them. Neither set pieces nor shots from the field could find their target.

“Our set pieces today were not as good as they have been,” Latuscha said. “When you get a chance on a free kick or a set play you got to make them pay, you got to make them work hard.”

The Blue Devils were able to convert on one of their corner kicks late in the first half. Senior captain Kahja Gagnon’s kick from the right corner pinballed around in the box until it got to Chamberlain, who finally put in the back of the net.

“It kind of bounced around,” Remington said. “We had a couple of shot attempts, it kind of bounced off, and then Taylor kind of finished it off.”

“I saw a bunch of red jerseys, and I said ‘I’m just going to hit this and see where it goes,'” Chamberlain said. “That was really surreal. I was like ‘wait, that just went in?'”

The Blue Devils had the wind at their backs, literally, in the second half. But holding off the Red Eddies wasn’t going to be an easy task. The Blue Devils did it anyway.

“They stood the test and did a really good job, and that says a lot for them because there’s been some games this year and in previous years was that physicality has been tough, we haven’t handled it very well, but we stepped up and handled it really well today,” Remington said.

The Red Eddies’ best chance in the second half was their first. Lauren Berube sent a low cross from the right side to the left post, but couldn’t connect with either a teammate or the back of the net three minutes in.

“We had a great play … to the far post where we just missed it,” Latuscha said. “That would have totally changed the game.”

Piper Norcross, many times a pest to the Blue Devils, had a few chances of her own, but a low shot, a well-struck direct kick from outside and a header off a corner kick all were gobbled up by Lewiston freshman goalie Gemma Landry.

“They got a really good goaltender that’s not going to let easy ones by,” Latuscha said. “Whoever’s going to score against that team, they’re going to have a have a really good shot and make a really good play.”

Landry finished with five saves, while EL senior goalie Taylor Depot was able to stop three of five shots on goal.

The Red Eddies already had a playoff spot sewn up heading into Monday’s game, and Latuscha said the loss was only a bump in the road of what was an otherwise solid end to the season for his team.

“Season starts fresh again tomorrow morning,” Latuscha said. “We’re all at 0-0.”

The Blue Devils will be joining their cross-river rivals in the Class A North tournament thanks to Monday’s win and some losses by teams competing with Lewiston for the final playoff spots.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Lewiston’s Madison Roy, left, keeps pace with Edward Little’s Grace Beaudet dribbling down the sideline as Taylor Chamberlain trails the play during the Blue Devils’ 2-0 win in Lewiston on Monday.Edward Little’s Caroline Hammond, left, tries to simultaneously control a bouncing ball and hold off Lewiston’s Kelsie Lynch during the Blue Devils’ 2-0 win in Lewiston on Monday.Lewiston’s Taylor Chamberlain, right, who scored both Blue Devils goals, passes the ball past Edward Little’s Ella Boucher during a 2-0 win in Lewiston on Monday.