By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

AUBURN – It took about seven seconds for Lewiston to show it meant business Wednesday.

By the time the Edward Little hockey team did the same, the game was half over.

Though EL trimmed a 3-0 deficit late in the second period with two power play goals, Lewiston held off the Red Eddies rally for a 4-2 victory at Ingersoll Arena.

“The guys were tested, they worked hard and they found a way to win the game,” said Lewiston coach Tim Smith.

Lewiston scored seven seconds into play. Lewiston then added two more in the second period to build a 3-0 advantage.

“I think they caught us on our heels a little bit,” said EL coach Jamie Belleau. “Then we got the momentum after we scored a couple of goals. That happens in a game. The message is that at the drop of the puck, we have to be ready to play.”

The victory keeps Lewiston (15-4) within reach of the top spot in Eastern Class A. EL (9-10) expects to stay in the seventh slot.

“That was a team goal of ours,” said Smith, whose team finishes the regular season at Bangor Saturday. “We knew that if we won tonight, we had a chance at first place, which is what we wanted.”

Off the opening face-off, Lewiston’s first shot by Joe Gauthier on the left side snuck past EL goaltender Kris Bennett.

Toby Poirier made it 2-0 at 7:24 of the second period by cutting through the high slot for a wrister. Then Brian Ricker snuck behind the defense for a backhander with 5:05 left in the second. Lewiston opened the period outshooting EL 8-1.

“I think we had breakdowns on the first and third goals, and they capitalized” said Belleau. ” Anytime you make two mistakes and a team scores, you put yourself in a big hole.”

Lewiston gave EL the opportunity to rally in the closing minutes of the second. The Blue Devils took 10 minutes in penalties leading to a pair of power-play goals.

Corey Larue scored from the right side with 2:02 left in the period. Then 46 seconds later, Dylan Nadeau put in a rebound.

“We got into penalty trouble,” said Smith. “That happens, but we battled through. When EL made it 3-2, we really picked up the pace and found a way to win the hockey game.”

Lewiston righted itself in the third and limited the Red Eddies’ chances. EL had a backhander from Kevin Smith go wide. The Red Eddies had a power play in the final minutes when Lewiston was whistled for too many men on the ice, but EL couldn’t convert. Shots by Matt Nadeau and Jacob Marcum were stopped and smothered by Lewiston netminder Brian Nason.

Gauthier stole the puck and scored into an empty net with 30 seconds left.

“We’ve been playing a lot of good hockey lately,” said Smith. “Our last five or six games, we really picked it up a notch. We’re really starting to play more to our potential.”