By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The second time, Husayn Carnegie made sure it hit the back of the net.

Moments after the Lewiston junior had a header kicked out by a Brewer defender, Carnegie buried another try off a free kick to end a 0-0 stalemate. He added a second goal minutes later to lift the Blue Devils to a 2-1 victory over Brewer in an Eastern Class A boys’ soccer preliminary game Wednesday.

Lewiston advances to Saturday’s quarterfinal at Brunswick.

“They came out ready to play,” Carnegie said of the 11th-ranked Witches. “I don’t think we kept up in the first half. We played well, but not as well as I know we’re capable of. We found a little desperation in the second half.”

Carnegie’s header off a corner with 4:25 left in regulation was on target for the net, but a line of Brewer defenders kicked it out. With 3:21 left, however, Carnegie got another chance. Jake Theriault had a free kick from the left side and put the ball toward the right post where Carnegie was waiting.

“They played up high,” said Carnegie. “So I knew I could get in if I timed my run right. Jake put a perfect ball right on my head.”

Brewer (5-9-1) was forced to come out of its defensive shell, and a defensive mistake led to Carnegie’s second goal. When Brewer keeper Chris Brady came out to handle a ball and bobbled it, a defender failed to clear it. Carnegie stole the ball and chipped it into an empty net with 1:06 left.

“It was kind of lucky, but their defender just couldn’t get it off the foot,” said Carnegie.

Brewer kept charging and got a Reid McLaughlin goal following a fine save by Lewiston goaltender Brian Nason. The Witches had 47 seconds left to get the equalizer, but couldn’t produce another shot.

“It’s been that way all year,” said Brewer coach Darren Hall, who had tough losses to Waterville and Bangor. “The guys know they’re capable of playing with anybody. It’s a matter of whether they showed up, and they absolutely did.”

Hall said his gameplan was to try and load up the defense and frustrate the Blue Devils (11-3-1). It worked for much of the game, but as the second half progressed, Lewiston moved the ball more effectively.

“We played with two strikers and they played with five backs,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “So the adjustment we had was to play to the outside. We didn’t do it as well as we should have. We still continued to get the through ball, but it was going down the middle.”

Prior to Carnegie’s header that just missed, he had set up Matt Manley for a shot that went wide. Brewer also had a quality bid when Jimmy Nicknair had a steal, but his shot deflected wide.

“To win the first one is a very difficult thing to do,” said McGraw. “Once you win that first one, you know a little bit about what it takes.”