LEWISTON — With sudden hope and burst of energy, Edward Little pulled out all the stops Thursday night.

The Red Eddies tried to rally from a two-goal deficit but their late-game comeback was stopped short by unbeaten Lewiston in a thrilling 2-1 win by the Blue Devils.

Down 2-0 in the second half, EL scored on a penalty kick midway through the half. That gave the Red Eddies the spark they needed, but Lewiston held firm down the stretch.

“You worry in a game like that,” Lewiston coach Mike McGraw said. “With them picking up that first goal on a penalty kick, that changed the whole complexion of the game. That gave them all the momentum. That put the opportunity into them and gave them a little extra amount of energy.”

It was the first loss of the year for EL (2-1). The Red Eddies produced some pressure late and had a pair of threats. Alex Thompson had a dead ball that couldn’t connect with a player in front. Elijah Roe had an open chance in front but the ball skipped away from his foot.

“We really battled tonight,” said EL coach Matt Andreasen. “Unfortunately,  in this sport, sometimes you need a lucky bounce. It kind of slipped away from us, quite literally. We fought hard. We showed a lot of character, but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.”

It wasn’t only a game featuring two unbeaten but a match that showcased two talented goalkeepers — EL’s Lew Jensen and Lewiston’s Austin Wing.

Lewiston jumped out to an early lead with two goals in the final nine minutes of the first half. Abdulkarim Abdulle had both of them for the Blue Devils.

“Those were spectacular,” McGraw said. “He took advantage of those opportunities and made them work. You don’t score on Lew that often. You have to make sure the ball is low because he covers so much and he’s a spectacular goaltender.”

Jensen finished with 10 saves while Wing totaled five.

The game often went back and forth because Edward Little has some speed up front that can challenge Lewiston’s quickness. Both teams put pressure on and both goalies were tested.

“Maslah (Hassan) is a tough matchup up top,” said Andreasen of the former Lewiston forward that returned to Edward Little this year. “We’ve worked a lot on possessing more and getting our backs involved in the attack. Unfortunately, we reverted back to at times and played that more direct style that we don’t want to play, but you could see we had some nice combos a couple of times.”

Abdulle scored the first goal with 8:27 left in the first half. He was in front and put a low shot into the corner for the lead.

Then with just 3:49 left in the half, Lewiston doubled the lead. Adbulle was free in front again and didn’t miss with another low shot. Jensen slipped as he tried to get over to his left for the save.

EL had a flurry of shots in the first half, but Wing made some key stops.

“Austin did a nice job,” McGraw said. “He buried some things that could have been problems.”

Edward Little got one back with 23:00 left in regulation. A foul call led to a penalty shot. Luke Sterling made it count with a low shot into the right corner.

That sparked the Red Eddies, and EL tried to finish off the comeback. EL put some consistent pressure on and had the Lewiston defense scrambling at times. Thompson’s free kick and the opportunity by Roe made things too close for comfort for the Blue Devils.

“Toward the end, we have to have a little end of the game composure,” McGraw said. “The EL kid was wide open. It could have been a tie ball game.”

Still, Lewiston made the plays it needed to make. Like Monday’s win against Mt. Ararat, Lewiston faced a challenge in the second half of both games but weathered the storm.

“We still have to clean up a few things, but we’re getting a little better,” said McGraw, whose team gets a rematch with the defending Eastern A champs at Hampden Saturday. “Our communication has to be better. With that, we get confidence.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link