AUBURN — It seemed odd at first to watch Class C Mt. Abram taking on Class A Edward Little, but divisions didn’t matter much in their action-packed boys soccer game Thursday.

Both teams took turns dominating the field in an intense showdown that ended in a 2-2 compromise, making their classes a distant memory.

Coaches and players were eager to play each other despite the classification difference. Windham was originally scheduled to play the Red Eddies.

“Obviously, we are Class C so we only play Class C teams, but to be able to play a Class A team is really nice,” Mt. Abram junior center midfielder Cam Walters said. “The whole team gets the experience of playing a big-name school and seeing what it is like outside Class C and outside northern Maine. It was a lot of fun. Both teams played really hard.”

The fun started when the Roadrunners got on the scoreboard first nearly seven minutes into the opening half.

Walters took a feed from freshman Morgan Thibodeau and scored, giving the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead as well as delivering a wake-up call to the Red Eddies.

“This team was pretty descent. They were pushing us and we did a pretty good job, I think, on defense, offensively, everything,” Edward Little senior Omar Jashaami said. “I am not going to lie to you. The first half, we were kind of sloppy (and) going through the motions. (But) after the first half, we really pushed them. We were going hard, yeah. I think we did pretty good.”

But the Red Eddies did indeed awake and responded with a tying goal in the first half. Jashaami put Josh Lavigne’s assist to good use and scored with 19:44 left on the clock.

But the Roadrunners remained a dominant force in the first half. Kenyon Pillsbury scored the next goal, with an assist going to senior Hunter Warren, to provide Mt. Abram with a 2-1 lead heading into the half.

The Roadrunners’ narrow lead didn’t sit well with the Red Eddies, who tied the game when senior Jake Jackson’s flip throw was deflected by Mt. Abram goalie Ian Allen and into the net to make it a 2-2 tie. The goal was ruled as an own goal.

Mt. Abram coach coach Darren Allen and Edward Little skipper Tim Mains echoed their players comments about the game.

“(The game) gives us really good confidence because we don’t know where we really stand, and our focus is to get better every game,” Darren Allen said. “We played really well today. We had a lot of really good pressure and I was real happy how we responded. It was a good, tough match.

“They have a secret weapon in the throw. The flip throw is hard to defend and you can’t replicate it. You can’t replicate for that throw unless you have a kid that does it, which we don’t, so I was really happy how we responded and played.”

Mains is well aware of Mt. Abram’s strong soccer program, so he wasn’t surprise that the Roadrunners gave his Eddies a hard time.

“That’s as good as a game as we are going to get,” Mains said. “That’s a really good team, a really good program. We have a lot respect for them.

“We have been telling our boys for days now, since we found out we were going to play Mt. Abram, we’ve been telling them they are going to get a good opponent. We didn’t take them lightly. I think we played really well. I think 2-2 is a good result for us as well as them.”

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