After an 0-1-1 start, the Lewiston boys’ soccer team is hitting its stride.

The Blue Devils have won four straight, including a 2-0 victory over Brunswick last Friday. It has vaulted the defending KVAC champs to the top of the Eastern A standings.

“I’m excited for the kids to have this start, especially after going 0-1-1,” said Lewiston coach Mike McGraw. “That kind of opened their eyes. They’ve improved. They’ve done the things that they have to do to win, but there’s so much more to go.”

Lewiston had significant holes to fill after going 12-3 last year and losing in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals. The Blue Devils graduated a pair of all-star players in Ali Hersi and Showbow Saban, while also losing a wealth of experience in the midfield and on defense, including goalie Scott Ouellette.

McGraw had a promising team returning, but it was a club that might take time to gel. That showed in a 2-1 loss to Mt. Ararat and a 1-1 tie with Edward Little.

Since then, the Blue Devils have picked up steam. After beating Lawrence 2-0 and Oxford Hills 6-1, Lewiston blanked Brunswick last Friday. Dahir Muktar scored an early goal and the Blue Devils added one from Benji Abdisalan Saban.

“I thought we took advantage of the one situation to score and we we were kind of lucky to be able to hold them off,” said McGraw, who got 12 saves from keeper Eric Soucy.  “That was really big. They were 2-0-2. They’re going to win their share of games.”

The win was a monumental step for a young Lewiston club still trying to establish itself.

“When you beat Brunswick, it’s a big confidence builder,” said McGraw, whose club beat Skowhegan 9-0 the following day. “I think the kids understand that there’s still a long way to go.”

Though the win has vaulted the Blue Devils to the top of the rankings, McGraw says it is way too soon to think about high seeds or KVAC championship game berths. He says his club still has rematches with Mt. Ararat and Edward Little as well as showdowns with teams like Mt. Blue, Hampden and Brewer.

“We haven’t played some of them in forever, with the exception of a playoff game,” McGraw said. “So there’s a lot of unknowns there.”

Still, the recent winning streak and the victory over the Dragons have shown just how promising this team can be. It gives a standard for the Blue Devils to aspire to the rest of the way.

“The kids know they can play with anybody, and they know they can win,” McGraw said. “If you believe in yourself, that’s a good thing, but if you start believing in what other people are saying or what you read, things on paper don’t score goals or play defense. They have to understand that they have to show up every day, go to work and do their job and hope things work out from there.”

Rebuilding Rebels

Some members of the Telstar boys’ team are playing a ton of soccer these days.

Telstar has had a girls’ club soccer team for five seasons. With a full team looking to play at the varsity level, Coach Greg Luetje  put all of those girls on his boys’ roster.

Many of them are playing on the boys’ JV squad in addition to playing on the club team. Some have seen regular time with the varsity.

“There’s about seven that I draw from on the girls’ team,” he said.

Casey Blaszcak, Katie Blaszcak and Maisey Griffin are regulars on the varsity squad. They have held their own nicely.

The Rebels are in need of the skill and depth that the girls can add. Telstar graduated four MVC all-stars from a team that won eight games and reached the Western Class C quarterfinals. The Rebels are playing an average of 17 players per game.

“We lost a lot of leadership,” said Luetje, whose team has also been battling illness recently. “We’re still trying to fill those shoes. We’re getting back to the fundamentals and in rebuilding mode right now.”

The Rebels are 0-4 with tough losses to Mountain Valley (3-1) and Wiscasset (2-0). Telstar is trying to build experience and continuity.

“One thing we’re struggling with right now is our movement,” Luetje said. “We have players that can scrap to win the ball, but a lot of times when we have players around the ball, we have players that aren’t moving to open space. They’re not anticipating when someone wins the ball. So there’s no help when someone does get the ball.”

Junior goalie Ricky James is a bright spot for the Rebels, who have four seniors on the club — Casey Thornton, James Piccirillo, Trent Bonney and Tyler Brown. Juniors David Mason, Mike Del Duca and Hunter Chase are the only other upperclassmen.

[email protected]