AUBURN — To score in soccer, you need both possession and to take shots. On Saturday the Lewiston boys did both. They outshot Edward Little 21-3 en route to a 4-0 blanking between the Twin Cities rivalries.

Throughout the first 20 minutes of the games, both teams seemed to be feeling each other out, volleying back and forth, but putting together few real scoring threats.

“We maintained composure when we were supposed to as well as focus,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “EL and Lewiston is like a roller coaster and we knew what we needed to accomplish.”

About 18 minutes into the game, junior Benji Saban of Lewiston fought through several defenders and put a shot on net, where EL goalie Ben Bowles came up with the save.

At this point, momentum was shifting Lewiston’s way. Less than a minute later, Lewiston regained control and, off a direct kick, Dahir Muktar picked up a loose ball in front and tapped it into the net for the game’s first score.

For the next 15 minutes, Lewiston continued to control the ball, getting to loose balls in the open field then moving it downfield.

“Like our previous meeting, speed was the difference today,” said Edward Little coach Dave Morin, “It creates momentum.”

Senior forward Shobow Saban took a direct outside the left side of the box with six minutes remaining in the first half and put it past an outstretched Bowles into the upper right-hand corner, giving the Blue Devils (9-2) a 2-0 halftime lead.

Saban would later add another goal late in the second half.

“Our game plan was to stay on the ball. EL is a well coached team and we needed to keep players like Tim Mains, James Jackson, and Jared Pelletier in check,” said McGraw.

To start the second half, EL showed signs of staying in the game by putting a little more pressure on Lewiston’s defense. After a missed shot over the cross bar 15 minutes into the second half, EL really never continued the pressure as again, Lewiston’s speed caught up with the Red Eddies (4-9).

“We couldn’t do things we wanted to do as a result of their speed, and it eventually hurt us,” said Morin.

Benji Saban gave Lewiston an insurance goal, taking a ball through traffic and stuffing it to the back of the net.

“We wanted to make sure we took care of business coming out in the second half,” said McGraw. “We couldn’t make any mistakes and let them back into the game.”

Lewiston continued its dominance,  minimizing Edward Little’s chances to get on the scoreboard. The Red Eddies only had one clean shot in the second half and were outshot in the second half, 12-1.

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