AUBURN — There was a whole lot riding on Monday’s girls’ soccer game between the two rival teams from Lewiston-Auburn.
Between the Maca Roddy trophy, roses, playoff positioning and Heal Points, Lewiston and Edward Little had plenty on the line in their regular season finale.
Lewiston got its share of Heal Points and a boost in the standings while the Red Eddies kept the trophy and the roses after a 1-1 tie between the two teams.
“Every time we play Lewiston, whether the records are 0-12 or 12-0, it’s always a really good game, especially when it’s the last game of the season,” said EL coach Craig Latuscha, who recognized his seniors with flowers prior to the game. “We were playing for a trophy. It doesn’t really matter what happens in the regular season. The trophy is on the line, and everybody wants to get it.”
The Maca Roddy Trophy is named for the late EL goalkeeper, who was killed in a car accident. The trophy goes to the winner of the second Lewiston-EL game. Because it was a tie, EL, which beat Lewiston in the first outing 3-0, kept the trophy.
Still, Lewiston got its share of points from the second-seeded Red Eddies (10-1-3). The Blue Devils (6-7-1) moved up to seventh in Eastern Class A and will likely avoid the preliminary game this weekend.
“The girls really approached it as a win, because they did beat us at home the first time,” said Lewiston coach Brant Remington, whose team could draw a quarterfinal matchup at EL if the current seeding stays the same. “That was part of the beginning of the season where we lost three. Things could have turned for the worse, but the girls were resilient and stepped it up. They upset Hampden and then they started on a roll from there.”
Though EL got the first goal Monday from Mariah Vaillancourt, Lewiston tied it a few minutes later on a Kristina Blais tally. Both teams had chances after that but couldn’t break the tie.
“I have to give them credit,” Latuscha said. “They’ve significantly improved since the beginning of the season. So have we, and to be in the place that we are right now is something I truly did not imagine. We had an unbelievable regular season. We ended up 10-1-3, which is unbelievable compared to last year.”
The two Most Valuable Players announced following the game were Lewiston’s keeper Kelsey St. Cyr and EL’s defender/midfielder Sarah Hammond.
“St. Cyr in goal was huge,” Remington said. “There were three balls that she punched up and over on great shots by EL.”
EL came out strong and outshot Lewiston 9-3 in the first half. The Red Eddies created some quality shots, but St. Cyr made some key saves to keep the game tied.
EL got the first goal with 22:27 left in the first half. Francesca-Beth Haines won the ball and got it to Makayla Norcross. Her feed to the front was put home by Vaillancourt for the 1-0 lead.
Lewiston answered that with some pressure and an equalizer with 18:58 left in the half. Taylor Chamberlain centered the ball in front for Blais, who tied it.
The Blue Devils were playing without freshman midfielder Kajha Gagnon in the midfield. Remington put Chamberlain in that spot early but then moved Adela Kalilwa there later in the opening half. Kalilwa played in that role earlier in the season and was more used to it.
“I think that made a big difference,” Remington said. “It allowed Taylor to do her thing, and she got open for that cross.”
EL had the the better of the chances the rest of the way. Between St. Cyr in goal and Morgan Eliasen playing tough in front of her, Lewiston made it hard for the Red Eddies to find an opening in the second half and overtime.
“Our game plan was to really make it tight like we did against Bangor,” Remington said. “We played them scoreless for 60 minutes up there. We played with the same philosophy.”
Lewiston got some push up front from Blais, Chamberlain and Gabby Barrett, but the Blue Devils couldn’t get many great chances against the EL defense and keeper Molly Murray.
EL got a shot by Olivia Paione that was over the outstretched hand of St. Cyr but hit the crossbar late in regulation. Paione had another shot saved by St. Cyr in overtime. Emily Jacques saw a bid in overtime stopped as well.
“Lewiston improved a lot,” Latuscha said. “They got some Heal Points out of us, and we got some out of them. I don’t know how that’s going to affect us Heal Points-wise. Maybe it will drop us to third or keep at at second. It doesn’t necessarily matter. We made the playoffs, and our goal was to make the playoffs.”
The two teams were taking donations during the game for the Cassidy Charette Scholarship Fund. Charette was the Messalonskee soccer player killed in a tragic accident on Oct. 11. Donations will be taken during the boys’ game between Lewiston and Edward Little Tuesday and then presented to the Messalonskee team.
kmills@sunjournal.com
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