LEWISTON – They felt they had to do something.

After losing three of the last four games, the Lewiston girls’ soccer team was looking to shake things up Wednesday.

“We needed the points,” said Lewiston coach Rick Meyers. “We were on a string of a few losses here. We know we can play with these teams.”

So the Blue Devils tried to shuffle things around offensively, and it paid off. Laura Martel set up goals by Kelsey Varney and Amanda Michaud as Lewiston blanked Oxford Hills 2-0.

“We had to do a change with her,” said Meyers of Martel, Lewiston’s top scorer. “She’s such a presence on the field, and they mark her up so much that we had to do something different. We totally changed the way we played.”

Lewiston (5-3) used Martel on the wing, hoping to free up players in front. Both goals came off crosses from Martel when Varney and Michaud were unmarked on the opposite posts.

“The other girls really stepped up,” said Meyers. “We told them You really need to fill the spots that Laura usually occupied in the middle of the field.’ We tried to play the ball wide and use her for her passing ability.”

Lewiston didn’t have an abundance of chances, but those two were enough to knock off the second-seeded Vikings ( 6-2-1). Though Oxford Hills applied plenty of pressure, the Viking couldn’t create the scoring chances needed.

“I just think we’re not playing to where we’re capable of playing,” said Oxford Hills coach Kyle Morey. “The Lewiston kids worked hard, and they got it done and we didn’t. They deserved to win. Until we play closer to our potential any team is capable of beating us.”

The Vikings best scoring chance came on a penalty kick in the first half. After Varney’s goal 6:45 into the game, a handball gave the Vikings a penalty kick with 16:16 left. Steph Piirainen’s shot hit the crossbar, but a Lewiston player was ruled to have moved prematurely. That gave Piirainen a second chance. Lewiston keeper Alison Coleman dove to stop her next shot. Piirainen tried to play the rebound but the whistle blew.

“I don’t think our team does well with adversity right now,” said Morey. “They had a goal disallowed, and the official admitted to messing up. There was nothing he could do after the fact. In his mind he was thinking about the rule that when it hits the post, the shooter can not hit it until it’s touched by another player. The bottom line is we need to get it done whether it’s our error or someone else’s.”

Lewiston added to the lead with 29:16 left in regulation on Michaud’s goal. Oxford Hills best bid in the second half came when Heather Hudanish burst through for a shot that was stopped by Coleman.