LEWISTON — With his hockey background, Edward Little girls’ soccer coach Craig Latuscha knows the cliche that a two-goal lead is a dangerous one.

So when his team scored again to go up 3-0, Latuscha was able to breathe a little easier.

The Red Eddies opened up a close game at halftime with two second-half goals en route to a 3-1 victory over rival Lewiston in a KVAC clash at Don Roux Field on Tuesday.

“To get it up 3-0, that was a big thing,” Latuscha said. “If it was 1-0, they score a goal to make it 1-1, or if it’s 2-0, they score to make it 2-1, that’s a tough lead to keep, whether it’s any sport. Soccer, hockey or what not. A two-goal lead is very difficult to keep.”

That third goal came at just the right time, too. Olivia Jepsen’s corner kick from the left side found its way in with just over 15 minutes left. The Blue Devils (2-1-1) then scored four minutes after that to bring it back to a two-goal game.

“I noticed when we scored the third goal, it seemed to deflate them a little bit,” Latuscha said. “They were playing really, really hard and they were putting a lot of pressure on us.”

Lewiston applied the pressure in the early minutes, but nothing found its way in the net. The Red Eddies (3-1) were successful on their first try.

A long throw-in bounced into the box bounced around then found Grace Beaudet with her back to the goal. The junior then turned around and fired past Lewiston goalie Kallie May seven minutes into the game.

“It’s always a one-goal game,” Latuscha said”For us to get that one goal to start off the game … that was a big thing.”

That score stood at halftime. It still was 1-0 into the 14th minute of the second half, when Lauren Berube made it 2-0. Just a couple minutes after re-entering the game, Berube found the ball at her feet in the box, with her back to the goal. Like Beaudet, she quickly fired a shot past May.

“When the ball finally got to me, I just thought I needed to shoot it right away. And it went in,” Berube said. “(Coach Latuscha) said to take our opportunities right away.”

The Blue Devils had more opportunities in the game, but the success rate wasn’t there for Lewiston.

“When we’re playing EL the last couple years, it could go either way,” Lewiston coach Brant Remington said. “This one … they finished. Their goals, they were able to finish. We weren’t able to finish, except that one goal.”

Lewiston’s goal came off a corner kick by Kajha Gagnon from the left corner. The ball made its way to the near post, and eventually got to Kelsie Lynch, who put it home.

“To get that goal at the end is going to help us keep our positive attitude going into Mt. Blue Thursday,” Remington said.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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