Edward Little High School keeper Gunner Winslow (1) jumps to make a chest save on a shot by Lewiston’s Jayden Wilson (2) as EL’s Justin Theriault defends during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)

AUBURN — As Lewiston’s Garrett Poussard carried the ball up the sideline late in the first quarter, Edward Little’s Storm Jipson stepped up to play defense.

Poussard flattened Jipson.

And, it was on. The rivalry matchup turned into a slugfest.

The Blue Devils brawled their way to a 13-4 boys’ lacrosse win over the rival Red Eddies at Walton Field on Tuesday.

“It’s a big rivalry game,” Lewiston defender Ryan Bossie said. “We knew that they were going to come out hard. That’s what teams do against us, especially against our strong offense, they’re going to use the body against us, and it worked, but we were able to get the ball in the net.”

Lewiston’s Sam Payne opened the scoring off an assist by Gunnar Wade. Edward Little bounced back with a pair of goals by Ben Feldman and Alex Landry to take a 2-1 lead until Tanner Cortes scored with 1:12 left in the first period, making it 2-2 heading into the second.

“We had a slow start,” Lewiston coach Ben Fournier said. “Just a slow start. Took a little while for the guys to wake up, but once they realized that, you know, EL wasn’t going to hand over the game, they were going to fight and they were going to play hard, then we kind of turned it on and stepped up our game a little bit.”

While both teams were dishing out hits, the Blue Devils kept scoring and tallied five straight goals to take a 6-2 lead that was 6-3 at halftime after Eli Thibodeau scored late in the first half.

“We started off pretty well in the first quarter and then things just fell apart,” Edward Little coach Jim Dock said.

After scoring two goals in the first quarter, the Red Eddies were held to two over the next three quarters.

“We had a film session and we practiced being more compact in the middle and not being as spread out as much as we used to,” Bossie said. “Playing man-to-man defense was a big part of the game, and just being more tight and better body positioning.”

The nearly constant physical play meant the ball spent a lot of time on the ground, and ground balls became premium.

“Ground balls were a big play in this,” Bossie said. “We knew they were going to come out and hit us hard, they were were going to play the physical game against us, but ground balls were huge.”

Logan Michaud, Brayden Charest, Jayden Wilson and Cortes all scored in the third quarter to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 10-3.

Michaud and Gunnar Wade added goals in the fourth quarter to make it 12-3.

Edward Little’s Spencer Frahn and Lewiston’s Poussard finished the scoring.

Payne led Lewiston with three goals.

The loss drops the Red Eddies to 2-4.

“Halfway through the season now, it’s not where we wanted to be,” Dock said. “But we just had a good postgame meeting with the varsity guys, and we’ll just show up to practice tomorrow with a new attitude and a new commitment to each other.”

Edward Little next plays at Bonny Eagle on Saturday.

The Blue Devils (5-2), meanwhile, host the top team in Class A South, Thornton Academy (4-0), on Thursday at Garcelon Field.

Lewiston High School’s Garrett Poussard, right, follows through after bowling over Edward Little’s Storm Jipson on his way up the field during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Lewiston High School’s Garret Poussard, right, lowers his shoulder into Edward Little High School’s Storm Jipson during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Lewiston High School’s Tanner Cortez, right, wards off Edward Little’s Cam Sturgis during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Lewiston boys’ lacrosse players celebrate as the official signals a good goal during their game against Edward Little on Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn.Edward Little High School’s Alex Landry (10) gets shoved from behind by Lewiston’s Domi Colon during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Edward Little High School’s Leighton Girardin (12) slips past Lewiston’s Jereme Madore during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Lewiston High School boys’ lacrosse head coach Ben Fournier talkes with his team during a break in their game against Edward Little at Walton Field in Auburn on Tuesday. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)Edward Little goalie Gunner Winslow stares down a shot from Lewiston’s Jayden Wilson during their game Tuesday at Walton Field in Auburn. (Justin Pelletier/Sun Journal)