PARIS — The DeVivo sisters sparked the Oxford Hills girls soccer team Monday. Senior Isabella DeVivo scored twice and freshman Gianna DeVivo scored a goal of her own in a 5-1 victory over Lewiston.

“We continued to pass well tonight,” Isabella DeVivo said of the team’s success to the win. “We were passing well at the beginning of the game.”

The teams faced each other in Lewiston on Friday night with the Vikings coming out with a 2-0 victory. Blue Devils coach Jeff Akerley tried to change things up Monday night at Gouin Athletic Complex.

“We tried to use a different formation in the field and I think it worked in the first half and part of the second half,” Akerley said. “(Oxford Hills) just has a stronger bench.”

Oxford Hills opened up the scoring 15 minutes into the first half when Gianna DeVivo finished off a cross from Isabella DeVivo.

“We have been taking advantage of a lot of our crosses (this year). We have been working on that in practice getting them off sooner,” Isabella Devivo said. “(We are) making better touches on the corners and we worked really well tonight.”

Advertisement

The Blue Devils tied the game at 1-1 when Madeline Albert’s flip throw-in from the left sideline went to the box and Natalee Knowlton fired a shot past Oxford Hills goalie Madelyn Herrick (one save) with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Oxford Hills started the second half strong when Ceila Melanson sent the ball into the box and Isabella DeVivo chased the ball down. She then shot the ball past Lewiston goalie Ava Simpson (15 saves) three minutes into the half for a 2-1 lead.

“We were trying to stay calm and not get too frantic,” Oxford Hills coach Brittany Moore said. “On Friday, when it went back and forth, we really got away from our game. So today that’s one thing we made sure we spoke about at the beginning of the game was no matter what, stay composed. The girls did a great job.”

Isabella DeVivo missed a chance at a hat trick when her penalty kick hit the crossbar seven minutes into the second half.

“(Oxford Hills) did wear us down, they had more horses and they also seemed a lot more hungry and fired up than we were,” Akerley said. “That showed more in the second half. … They went to the ball stronger. We had a few opportunities but not as many as they did.”

Ashley Richardson put the Vikings up 3-1 when Simpson stopped the initial shot but Richardson gathered the loose ball and fired it into the net.

“We have been working on forward movement and the team is quick learners and are willing to give 100 percent in practice and in games,” Moore said. “We are making sure someone is at the end of all of our runs and they are timed. Today was all the puzzle pieces coming together.”

Isabella DeVivo scored her second goal of the game with 10 minutes remaining to make it 4-1. Melanson scored in the final minute to extend the lead to 5-1.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.