Then the second half started, and any momentum the Blue Devils carried into the final 40 minutes was gone 28 seconds in. The Red Eddies tied the game before either team could break a second-half sweat, then scored the game-winner midway through the second stanza for a come-from-behind 2-1 victory in a Class A North girls’ soccer game at Don Roux Field on Tuesday.

Lewiston (5-7-1) was the dominant team early on, but like the season’s previous meeting — a 1-0 overtime win by Lewiston — the Blue Devils struggled to capitalize on their chances. It wasn’t until Lewiston’s seventh and final shot of the first half, with seven minutes left, that Kristina Blais put the Blue Devils up 1-0 with a high shot over EL keeper Francesca-Beth Haines.

At halftime, Edward Little (5-4-3) found itself in a familiar position against its rival.

“I think honestly at halftime, we talked about how their team had a lot of seniors and they’re playing with a lot heart this year. And they tend to be more of a north-south team than an east-west team, and that benefits to their style,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said. “They scored that first goal and I think it shocked us.”

It was in the first minute of the second half, after Latuscha made some adjustments to his formation, that the Red Eddies did the shocking. Piper Norcross won a contested ball in the right side of the box, then found Lauren Berube wide open at the top of the box for the tying goal.

“I knew I had to have some intensity to bring the team up, because when one person does something everybody follows. And I heard Lauren screaming my name, so I knew I had to get her the ball because I knew she would finish for us,” Norcross said. “I was shocked, really nervous, but I knew I had to do it for everybody.”

The quick goal gave Edward Little the momentum it needed to get the win, one that it so badly wanted after losing to Lewiston on its home field earlier in the year.

“A lot of us were saying to the seniors ‘do you want to end on this note, losing to Lewiston?’ That’s our rival. We want this, and we need to go get it if we’re going to win,” Norcross said.

The sophomore Norcross made sure those eight seniors went out on top against the Blue Devils eight minutes into the second half, as she lofted a high shot over the head of Lewiston goalie Kelsey St. Cyr.

“Honestly I didn’t know,” Norcross said when asked if she thought her high-arcing shot would go in.

“She’s a gamer. Piper’s a gamer,” Latuscha said. “She’s a great player.”

Lewiston had more chances in the second half, but Haines (nine saves) and the EL defense were up to the task. And as the minutes ticked by, those Blue Devil shots disappeared.

“Hey, you got to play 80 minutes of soccer. They won the first half, I give them credit,” Latuscha said. “Today I think the second half we were better than they were.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com.