LEWISTON – Stephanie Houlihan had a little intuition that her soccer team would succeed on Tuesday.
When she scored late in the first half of Lewiston’s Eastern A preliminary game with Lawrence, that inkling may have become contagious.
“I kind of felt like it got the spirit going,” said Houlihan. “I had a feeling we’d win this game, and by getting that first goal, I feel like I boosted the entire team.”
Houlihan broke the ice with 11:55 left in the first half. The Blue Devils managed two more in 5:34. Kelsey Rodrigue and Renee Larochelle helped build a 3-0 lead that led to a 5-1 win over the Bulldogs.
“We just knew we needed to win this,” said Rodrigue. “So we just kept going and going. Having that first goal gave us more confidence that we were going to win.”
Laura Martel finished with a goal and two assists while Mallory Long had a goal and an assist for fourth-ranked Lewiston (11-2-2), which will host a quarterfinal game on Friday.
Though Martel, the school’s all-time leading scorer, has been an offensive catalyst for the Blue Devils, Lewiston got goals from four different players. With Martel drawing as many as four defenders at times, the players around her took advantage.
“We knew Laura was going to be marked a lot,” said Lewiston coach Rick Meyers. “That’s what I was impressed about the whole game. Those other girls, we knew if we played the ball off to them, they’d have chances to score. They’re feeling more confident that they can do something too.”
Houlihan, staked out at the right post, got the first tally off a Martel corner kick.
“I was at the front post,” said Houlihan. “I knew I was all by myself. I called the ball, and it went off the side of my head.”
Less than four minutes later, Rodrigue made it 2-0. She had nearly scored earlier with a nifty shot that was saved by Lawrence keeper Katie Mayo. This time, she finished a free kick with a high shot toward the right corner.
“(Assistant coach) Kevin (Bennett) just told me to bend it in,” said Rodrigue. “So I tried real hard to go to the corner, and it went through her hands.”
With 6:21 left in the half, Larochelle finished off another Martel corner.
“They really got to the ball well tonight and put the ball to the net,” said Meyers of the set plays. “They really stepped up because we haven’t had a lot of those throughout the year. Tonight, they did real well finishing.”
Long made it 4-0 with 28:02 left in the game. Ali Morin set her up with a nice pass from the midfield for a shot from the right side. Then Long set up Martel for a header with 26:11 left.
Lawrence (6-8) broke the shutout with 17:45 left when Brogan Liberty scored on a breakaway.
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