LEWISTON — Nothing was going to rain on top-seeded Lewiston’s parade Tuesday night.
Not the deluge that devoured Don Roux Field or visiting and upset-minded Messalonskee.
Shafi Ibrahim, Romano Bassa, Igor Domingues and Hamze Nur each contributed a goal and an assist for the Blue Devils in a 7-0 victory over the eighth-seeded Eagles in Class A North boys soccer quarterfinal.
“You know, guys were hungry,” Lewiston coach Dan Gish said. “They wanted to play today, regardless of the weather. And they were just hungry. They didn’t let the foot off the gas pedal, and they were consistent on both sides of the ball.”
The Eagles (7-9) did their best to hold shape and keep the Blue Devils (14-0-1) from having dangerous looks, but Ibrahim got one of those opportunities about seven minutes into the game. He dribbled into the left side of the box, then sent a shot toward the right post that eluded Messalonskee goalie Andrew Beckwith before Domingues poked it into the goal.
“Defensively, you just can’t give them that kind of space, that kind of room, and they don’t need much room to get a shot off,” Eagles coach Tom Sheridan said. “They’re an undefeated team and they’re pretty skilled. You (give them space), bad things happen.”
Less than two minutes later, defender Efraim Kindu finished off a corner kick from Bassa with a back-heel redirect into the goal to make the lead 2-0.
“We’ve worked a lot on set plays, and we’re definitely better,” Gish said. “And to see them actually — you know, when you dot the ‘I’ and cross the ‘T’ — it’s good to see. It felt good for them.”
Ibrahim scored his goal off a Nur assist a little more than 16 minutes in. Beckwith made some tough saves the rest of the half to keep Messalonskee’s deficit at 3-0.
Lewiston goalie Tanner Anctil only had to make one save in the first half, corralling a Colby Corson curling direct kick from 30 yards out. The Eagles finished the half with a repetitive push into the final third of the field during the last 10 minutes.
Lewiston’s David Abdi made it 4-0 about two minutes into the second half, going bar-down with a rip of a shot from 20-plus yards out.
Gish liked how the Blue Devils came out of halftime.
“And then they didn’t stop the rest of the game,” Gish said. “You know, you think you have the game in hand, and we see teams make those mistakes, and it’s the playoffs. You can’t let the foot off the gas until we tell you to.”
The Blue Devils all but put the game away with a pair of goals 67 seconds apart around the midway point of the half. Bassa made it 5-0 with a hard shot from the top-right corner of the box that bounced off of Beckwith’s gloves, right after Beckwith made a save and Domingues collected the rebound and fed Bassa for the assist.
Khalid Hersi then fed Hamze Nur moments later to extend Lewiston’s lead.
The Eagles’ halftime adjustment didn’t work out as planned.
“We just switched up formation and tried to attack a different way. We ran a 4-4-2, we don’t usually do that. So, tried to mix it up, do something a little different,” Sheridan said. “It (worked) for a little while, and then I think kids just got tired. Cold, wet, tired kind of thing. Some days things don’t go your way.”
Lewiston’s Josh Brito rounded out the scoring, finishing from Abdi Hassan in the final minute.
Anctil finished with four saves, and only needed to watch as the Eagles’ best chance — a Daniil Lukin shot from inside the box — sailed well over the net. Beckwith made six saves.
Next the Blue Devils will face No. 4 Brunswick — which was the lone team to tie with Lewiston during the regular season — in the regional semifinals.
“Whoever it is, we’re ready. We’re ready to play,” Gish said, adding: “Let’s go.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
