LEWISTON – After working frantically to produce a late tying goal Tuesday, the game-winner came relatively easily.

Lewiston rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the second half and scored the game-winner with just 3:44 left to stun upset-minded Leavitt in a 3-2 preliminary win.

Adam Wilding’s pass found its way through a crowd with surprising ease. Mohamed Mohamed was alone in front to cash in and lift Lewiston to Friday’s 5 p.m. Eastern A quarterfinal at Mt. Ararat.

“I knew I had some people around me, and I was surprised I had the ball,” said Mohamed. “I just put it in the side.”

Mohamed had two goals for Lewiston (12-2-1) while Dave LaBonte added the tying goal. Leavitt, which lost to Lewiston 7-0 in the regular season, got goals from Zach Burgess and Brent Parker.

“This is the Leavitt soccer that we played all year,” said Leavitt coach Isaiah Davis. “If you’re going to lose, you want to go out playing the way you play. It’s never easy for the season to end, but there’s no regrets.”

Down 2-1 in the second half, Lewiston was forced to increase the pressure. That sense of urgency helped bring the Blue Devils out of their lackluster play in the first half.

“Winning the first one is the hardest thing to do,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “Now you know what it takes. Last year, we didn’t win the first one and lost to Messalonskee.”

The tying goal finally came with 19:38 left, when Jake Theriault slipped a pass through the defense and found LaBonte in behind them. He put a nice chip into the right corner.

“We know they’re a momentum team,” said Davis. “When they score a goal, it picks them up. That’s what we talked about at halftime – not to let them get that momentum. We did alright in the second half. We were able to neutralize them, and then they finally got that goal.”

Leavitt’s best chance to respond came when Parker burst in for a shot, but Lewiston keeper Brian Nason got a hand on the shot to deflect it wide.

With overtime drawing near, Wilding had the ball in the right corner and managed to sneak it through traffic to Mohamed.

“Someone put the ball in the corner,” said Mohamed. “Adam got the ball and somehow got the ball through, and I was wide open. I just put it to the side.”

Leavitt (4-9-1) had taken the early lead when Burgess snuck behind the defense for a 1-0 lead at 9:03. Lewiston tied it when Mohamed dribbled through traffic for a shot with 19:54 left in the half. Leavitt managed to retake the lead on a penalty kick by Parker with 16:36 remaining.

“I thought we came out in the first half tentative and not like ourselves, not relaxed” said McGraw. “That’s probably because we’re home, it’s a playoff game, and we’re playing a team we beat 7-0. I don’t care what you say, it does a job on you psychologically, even though we prepared for it.”