LEWISTON — Lewiston’s offense was out in full force Thursday.
The Blue Devils defeated Oxford Hills 9-0 behind senior David Abdi’s hat trick in a boys soccer game at Don Rioux Field.
Lewiston (5-1-1) has outscored its opponents 36-6 this season.
“It was a good win and the guys loved to put up the goals,” Abdi said. “We enjoyed the time we had together.”
Senior Hamze Nur scored twice and had an assist in the win.
Lewiston coach Dan Gish said the goal in a blowout is for the players to maintain their form.
“It’s just to try to maintain our continuity on the field, keeping the rhythm no matter what the score is; we are always trying to play good soccer,” Gish said. “Whether that’s good possession or good defending, no matter what the opportunity is or what the score is.”
The Vikings (0-5), who have only five seniors, will use Thursday’s game as a learning experience.
“We are young, and we are getting experience,” Oxford Hills coach Matt Dieterich said. “When you are playing a good team that is that quick, you got to be sharp and not make mistakes. We are learning.”
Junior Mohamed Gabow opened the scoring with a goal eight minutes into the first half to put the Blue Devils up 1-0.
Junior Jacinto Mavinga scored Lewiston’s second goal with a shot that deflected off Oxford Hills goalie Emmett Hand midway through the first half.
Senior Shafi Ibrahim blasted a low shot into the net from 20 yards out to extend Lewiston’s advantage to 3-0.
The Blue Devils, with a couple of passes inside the 18-yard box, set up Abdi, who fired a shot that was a little beyond Hand’s reach. Ibrahim had one of his three assists on the goal.
“We have been running that (play) in practice,” Abdi said. “We play the striker and then we go out wide. It was like muscle memory for me.”
Abdi curled the ball into the net for his second goal of the match 29 seconds into the second half, pushing Lewiston’s lead to 5-0.
Cam Sherbinski had Oxford Hills’ best scoring chance, but his shot sailed a little over the crossbar.
Senior Hamze Nur potted the next two goals for Lewiston. His first was a low shot at the 7:41 mark into the second half. He added another a minute later for a 7-0 lead.
Gish said the Blue Devils were better in the second half at finishing their opportunities.
“We were shooting a lot at the goalkeeper (in the first half), and in the second half, we started to place the ball instead of hitting it with power all the time,” Gish said.
Abdi dribbled into the 18-yard box and his low shot into the goal completed the first hat trick of his career.
“It’s pretty special; not many midfielders score a hat trick,” Abdi said.
Freshman Abdimalik Nur later added Lewiston’s ninth goal of the game.
Hand made 20 saves in the loss.
“It certainly doesn’t look like a good effort in a 9-0 game, but he had a ton of saves, especially in the first half, to keep it close,” Dieterich said.
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