AUBURN – There are distinct divisions in girls’ lacrosse that have nothing to do with geography.

Mt. Ararat, Brunswick, Messalonskee and Yarmouth have reached the rare air where Lewiston High School wants to reside. Edward Little High School looks across the river and sees Lewiston’s maturing program as a model for its next logical step.

The impact of a few seasons, a handful of playoff appearances and sheer numbers showed Tuesday afternoon, when Lewiston scored seven of the first eight goals and coasted to a 13-8 victory over EL at Central Maine Community College.

Having an individual star who has been with the program since its infancy doesn’t hurt, either. Four-year starter and captain Kelsey Rodrigue led Lewiston (4-4) with four goals and an assist.

“She’s done it all year long,,” Lewiston coach Bill Grant said of Rodrigue. “She’s definitely our high scorer.”

Not the only one, though. Eight other players located the back of the net, led by Stephanie Belanger’s back-to-back goals in the first half.

Olivia Fournier, Amie Daniels, Andrea DiBello, Michelle Rancourt, Kristen D’Eramo, Lindsey Dostie and Kirby Rodrigue each delivered a goal. Rancourt and D’Eramo combined for five assists.

Lewiston put nearly as many players into the scoring column as Edward Little (2-5) put into a uniform.

“They had 24 kids out there today,” said EL coach James Platz. “We play 12.”

The Red Eddies lost another starter with flu like symptoms at halftime.

EL showed no ill effects of the muggy afternoon and the infrequent substitutions, however, actually outscoring the Blue Devils after intermission.

Freshman Kirsten Prue led the Eddies with four goals and three assists. Brittney French added three goals, and Bre Wing supplemented her single tally with four assists.

“Once they got it together in the second half, they played real well,” said Platz.

Daniels was a disruptive force in the defensive end with several interceptions and deflections for Lewiston. Kelsey Cote, Shelby Turcotte and Devon Daigle were stoppers throughout.

They’re products of a developmental system that brought more players out for girls’ lacrosse this spring than many Class A schools see for football.

“We have a huge team this year. We started off with 53 people and we’re at 40 right now, so we have strong numbers,” said Grant, in his first year as head coach. “We have a good feeder program. Mark Rodrigue, my assistant, has really built up the rec league, so I came in with a lot of sophomores and freshmen. My freshman scored quite a few goals today.”

In addition to Prue, Sam Dean and Carmen Lasagna were among the freshmen playing from start-to-finish for EL.

“We’re a new program. This is our third year varsity, so we don’t get the bigger draw like some of the schools that have had it for some time,” Platz said. “It takes time. One of the things we need to get going is a youth program. We’re working on it, and I think we’ll have one in place for next year.

EL goalie JoJo Hughes faced 42 shots and made 19 saves. Her counterpart, Janna Laverdiere, turned away 13 scoring bids.

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