LEWISTON – There have been games where both teams were begging for a goal – just one goal.

Saturday, however, defense was the elusive element. The rivals from Lewiston and Edward Little combined for an eight-goal affair that was more shootout than shutout. EL finished with the upper hand with a 5-3 boys’ soccer victory.

“We were talking about the old days when it was like five years in a row in which it would be 0-0,” said EL coach Dave Morin. “(Lewiston coach) Mike (McGraw) and I were both talking about having to play better defense because you don’t score like this against Mt. Ararat and Brunswick.”

It was not only a rare occurrence that both teams scored so many against their rival but also that two traditionally strong defensive teams would get involved in an offensive free-for-all.

“At one point, I was wishing for those times when we were 0-0 and were hoping for a goal here or there,” said McGraw. “It was an atypical Lewiston-EL game, but then again, nothing surprises me.”

Marc St. Hilaire had a pair of goals for EL, including the game-winner, just 18 seconds after Lewiston had tied it early in the second half.

“We showed a lot of composure,” said Morin. “We’re a pretty young team. They scored early, and they were pumped, and we came right back. They scored to tie it, and we came right back. My young team is starting to show a little bit of maturity.”

It made for two straight tough losses for Lewiston, which lost to Mt Ararat 6-0 Thursday.

“We’ll bounce back,” said McGraw, who tried to shore things defensively Saturday but felt his club didn’t have proper time to adjust to the changes. “We need some time to rest and solve some of the problems that make us inefficient. We have a hard time with our own self identity now because there are a lot of questions. To get our confidence back, we’ve got to play well. We played well in spurts, but we have to be more consistent.”

Lewiston (3-3) struck first at 4:23 on a Mike Archibald goal, but EL came right back when Eric Prue scored off the post at 6:06.

EL (4-2-1) took the 2-1 lead with 19:15 left in the half when Ben Hartnett finished off a nice rush by Adam Lutz, but Husayne Carnegie scored on a free kick with 9:10 left to tie it.

After a dangerous play call, St. Hilaire’s shot on an indirect kick went in off the hands of Lewiston keeper Tobias Farnsworth.

“Andrew (Campbell) was supposed to touch it, but we had a miscommunication and I shot it,” said St. Hilaire. “The goalie tipped it. So that’s why it counted.”

Lewiston got that back at 5:14 of the second half. Kyle Dussault finished off a cross from Jonathan Roy, but the Blue Devil momentum didn’t last. St. Hilaire turned and fired a shot from long distance that found the left side of the net at 5:32.

“A kid was coming, and I put it to my left like usual and just blasted it,” said St. Hilaire. “We just kept our heads up. Usually we keep our heads down when the other team scores.”

Lewiston had a chance to tie it with a hand ball call with 21:34 left. Carnegie took the penalty kick and shot wide to the right. EL added to its lead with 11:55 left when Ethan Grund chipped in a shot off a Prue free kick and Billy Brewster pass.

“There are years that we only scored 17 or 18 goals all season, but we’ve only given up eight, nine or 10,” said Morin. “We’ve changed our philosophy a little bit. We have to. We have a little more offense than we have in the past.”