AUBURN — Lewiston girls lacrosse coach Tracey Blaisdell said it was a team effort in the Blue Devils’ 19-7 victory against Edward Little on Thursday at Walton Field.
“As much as we saw the success on offense, we had some really fabulous successes on defense,” Blaisdell said. “Gabby Thomas had two blocked shots and she was all over … not only was she picking up ground balls, but she was getting her stick in the lane. It wasn’t just Gabby, it was Emily Trider and Alyssa (Marcoux) starting to gel.”
Offensively, Julia Perkins led the Blue Devils (1-2) with six goals. Madeline Cote had four in the victory, with eight players scoring at least one goal.
Perkins said Lewiston was ready for the rivalry game.
“Coming off two losses, we were eager to win,” Perkins said. “This is our opponent; it’s the Battle of the Bridge. We were really excited for this game. It got canceled Monday and we were really ready for it (today).”
Edward Little coach Shaun MacKinnon said the Red Eddies (1-2) played well given the circumstances of having only one substitute available for the game.
“The girls battled and fought all day,” MacKinnon said. “They could have given up after the crooked score at halftime, but they didn’t. We did a nice job in the second half, I think. We switched some things on defense; we went to a little bit more to a zone defense. That slowed (Lewiston) down a little bit. I am proud of the way they battled today.”
Lewiston led 13-2 at halftime.
Edward Little opened the scoring when Isabelle Hayes scored her first of five goals.
Perkins evened the game 4:22 into the game, but Stella Smith answered for Edward Little 33 seconds later for a 2-1 lead.
Cote scored her first goal by bouncing her shot off Red Eddies goalie Piper Bonnafand’s helmet into the net to even the game.
Perkins gave Lewiston the lead for good 10 minutes into the first half. Lauren Landry and Crew Langley scored 28 seconds apart for a 5-2 lead.
Caitlin D’Andrea scored two goals in the first half, and Perkins added three more tallies before halftime.
“Building a lead was really important for our confidence, so we can get more players in (the game) and get them comfortable touching the ball,” Perkins said. “It’s all about building the skill.”
Maddie Langlais, Dayla Tripp and Cote ended the scoring for Lewiston in the opening half.
Blaisdell said the offense as a whole is finding its groove.
“On offense, we have been working on our plays and our cutting,” Blaisdell said. “They have to adjust, they are getting smarter and their lacrosse IQ has really stepped up.”
Cote scored her third of the game early in the second half.
Hayes responded with two goals for the Red Eddies, cutting the deficit to 14-4. Smith scored from a free position and put Edward Little within nine.
Hayes later scored while running, cutting the deficit to 14-6.
Perkins stopped Edward Little’s run with her fifth goal of the afternoon. Hayes then answered again, and Lewiston led 15-7.
“I told them at halftime: ‘Let’s win the second half,'” MacKinnon said. “I think we did a pretty good job of that. We might have lost the second half by one or two goals. It was close for a while — I think we were up ahead a little bit. We wanted to stop the (running) clock and control the time of possession. That’s what Lewiston did, they controlled the time of possession and that’s how you win in lacrosse.”
Abby Beaucage, Landry, Langlais and Cote scored in succession for the Blue Devils, extending the lead to 19-7.
Lewiston outscored Edward Little 6-5 in the second half.
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