Joel Musese of Lewiston tries to side kick the ball past Mt. Blue goalkeeper Xander Gurney and Zack Gunther during the first half in Lewiston on Friday. Gurney made the save. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — Mt. Blue won the first half against Lewiston, if only in terms of the Cougars holding a lethal Blue Devils’ offense scoreless and leaving the defending state champions frustrated at halftime.
That stout defense only lasted for so long into the second half, though, and the Blue Devils finally clicked enough for a 2-0 victory in a Class A North boys’ soccer semifinal at Don Roux Field on Friday night.
“You know, I think we came out in the first few minutes possessing, but I think we never could really get into a rhythm that allowed us to sustain any type of offensive push, which that hurt us on the defensive end,” Mt. Blue coach Joel Smith said. “You can’t defend against this team 80 minutes and hope to win.”
The top-seeded Blue Devils (14-0-2) finally broke through 13 minutes into the second half, when Jama Abdullahi fed Suab Nur from right to left in the box. They scored again with 10 minutes left when give-and-go from defender Mardoche Kikobo to Bilal Hersi and back led to Kikobo’s open shot from the right that sealed the victory.
“The second goal, that was all (assistant coach) Abdijabar Hersi,” Lewiston coach Mike McGraw said. “He pulled over — we had a break in the action — he pulled over Mardoche and he said, ‘Play wide,’ and he said, ‘Just play the ball wide, back to Bilal, Bilal will give it back to you,’ and he looked at me and he said, ‘Coach, we do that, Mardoche’s going to score.’ So, the next thing you know they run that and he scores.”
Lewiston now advances to face No. 2 Mt. Ararat in the regional final next week. The Eagles were one of two teams to tie the Blue Devils during the regular season, and they also beat them in the exhibition KVAC championship game.
The fifth-seeded Cougars (9-6-1) played Lewiston to a first-half scoreless draw. While Mt. Blue couldn’t mount much of an attack, the defense didn’t give up a lot to the Blue Devils, either, holding them to just four shots on goal in the first 40 minutes.
“I think it was a lot of hard work. I think they just, they willed it, they worked it, and they made balls bounce their way,” Smith said. “Just they got the breaks that they needed in the first half, and that was just effort and sheer hustle.”
When balls did get to the Blue Devils in scoring situations, Mt. Blue sophomore goalie Xander Gurney was there to deny the chance.
“I give Xander credit, he kept us in it,” Smith said. “And I give Zack (Gunther) and Dom (Giampietro) and Jared (Fontaine) and Adam (Loewen), they did some good stuff back there.”
McGraw said he didn’t need to give his team a big speech at halftime to turn things around.
“As a matter of fact, when I walked over they were talking to each other,” McGraw said. “They were saying everything that I thought I would have to say.”
“Yeah, we got a little bit frustrated because we got so many (opportunities), we couldn’t finish it,” Kikobo said. “And it’s playoffs, so yeah, it’s a big game. We can’t miss those (opportunities). Those (opportunities) come once in a game.”
Nur’s goal “really relaxed” the Blue Devils, according to Kikobo.
It was a rare shot past Gurney, who finished with 13 saves on 15 shots, including stopping nine of 11 in the second half. Lewiston goalie Dido Lumu needed to only make one save for the Blue Devils.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Suab Nur of Lewiston High School shoots on goal while being defended by Zack Gunther of Mt. Blue during the first half in Lewiston on Friday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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