By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Matt Cyr was just about as far away from the play as could be.

He was also in the right place at the right time – all in the same moment.

After the boys’ teams from Lewiston and Edward Little had played more than 140 minutes of scoreless soccer this season, Cyr ended that drought when he headed in a Matt Manley cross in the second half Friday night. Manley added another goal as the Blue Devils posted a 2-0 victory over the Red Eddies.

“We got down in that area where we had an opportunity,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “Matt took advantage of the ball played to him.”

With the action drawing most of the players to the right side of the field, Cyr was on the opposite side with plenty of space and few defenders. Manley crossed the ball out of the corner, and Cyr had an open net.

“I wasn’t really seeing what was happening on the other side of the field,” said the senior midfielder. “I saw Manley open with the goalie down there. I saw it go right over the goalie’s head, and I tried to take advantage of that. I shot it as fast as I could.”

It gave Lewiston (8-3-1) a 1-0 lead with 24:12 left in the game. EL players claimed the ball had gone out of bounds in the corner and were awaiting a whistle when Manley made the cross.

“We made two huge mistakes,” said EL coach Dave Morin. “We thought the ball was out of bounds and stopped playing, and it was just a lack of communication on that second goal.”

Manley thwarted EL’s hopes for a rally with 14:40 left. As keeper Josh Mains came out of the net, Manley tucked the ball past him, and Mains slipped. Manley had an open net to shoot for and put it inside the right post.

EL (7-3-2) had a number of free kicks and corners in the second half but couldn’t produce.

“I felt we had a better chance to win this game,” said Morin. “I thought we had more chances than we did in the first game. We created a ton of chances, but we didn’t take our time on free kicks, and we were out of sync on them.”

Though Lewiston had the better of play in the first half, EL weathered that storm and picked up play in the second half. Lewiston, however, was ready for that challenge.

“With the wind being against us and the assumption that they were going to take advantage of the wind, we picked it up a notch,” said Cyr. “We knew that it would be a little tough, and we had to play harder. We played hard, and we made it happen.”

McGraw credits senior defender Jake Theriault as a catalyst for the Blue Devils second half.

“He picked up his game and got us going,” said McGraw. “He created some things that spilled over into the rest of the play.”