AUBURN — Edward Little freshman Gabby Gerry has developed a knack for scoring big goals against rival Lewiston.

Saturday was no different, as she factored in on all three goals in a 3-2 KVAC Class A girls soccer victory to capture the Maca Roddy Trophy over the Blue Devils.

“It makes me want to (work harder) because I am from (Lewiston),” Gerry said. “I just wanted to win.”

In the first Lewiston-EL game, Gerry scored the game-winning goal with three seconds remaining in the first overtime, but the goals against Blue Devils (0-13-1) started way before the first varsity meeting this season.

“She obviously scored the game-winning goal, buzzer-beater in overtime at Lewiston,” EL coach Miles Bisher said. “In our summer league game at Lewiston, she scored four goals. In the JV game against Lewiston, she scored three or four goals (today); she gets credit for three goals. There’s something about her playing Lewiston that really motivates her; she was fired up today and obviously came to play. We are very excited to have her in the program.”

Lewiston coach Jeff Akerley believes both teams have their competitive juices flowing for the rivalry game.

“They are very competitive with each other, no matter what the (records are),” Akerley said. “For me, it was a fun game to coach, and my girls played a great game; it could have gone either way. We had scoring opportunities that we missed on, unfortunately. The outcome could have been different if we had capitalized on those opportunities, but you have to give EL credit, too; they made their goals count.”

The Blue Devils had a free kick just past the midway point of the first half but Leah Landry sent it right to EL keeper Hailee Brown (three saves).

EL (4-9-1) went down the field and had a corner kick. The Red Eddies threw a curveball to Lewiston by kicking the ball short. Gerry corralled the ball and ripped it far-post past Ava Simpson (five saves) to give EL the 1-0 lead.

Both teams came out in the second half firing on all cylinders. Both Brown and Sadie Morgan (four saves), who came in relief for Simpson, had to make at least one save in the opening minute.

“The first half, I felt, was more free-flowing, and it felt like it was a little more back-and-forth, a little more possession-oriented for both teams,” Bisher said. “In the second half, both teams, we would have these instances of five minutes we were on their end of the field, then five minutes of they were on our end of the field.”

Gerry scored her second goal from 25 yards out with a shot that deflected off of Morgan’s hands into the top-left corner of the net.

The Blue Devils responded when Landry fired the ball into the far post in the sixth minute.

Lewiston rode the momentum of that goal. The Blue Devils lobbed the ball into the box, and Charlotte Cloutier headed the ball in past Brown.

Akerley made an adjustment to have both Cloutier and Landry play forward on Saturday.

“Both Leah Landry and Charlotte Cloutier up front, it gives us opportunities that we typically didn’t have during the season,” Akerley said. “It almost paid off for us; they kept us in the game. When you make those adjustments, you always make sacrifices somewhere else. Maybe it was too much to overcome on defense, but they certainly kept us in the game.”

With about 10 minutes remaining in the second half, the Blue Devils had two corner kicks in a row. The Red Eddies cleared the first one out of bounds. The second corner kick, Lewiston put the ball over the crossbar.

Lexi Kelsea had a free kick with six minutes remaining, but it went wide.

EL took a 3-2 lead with under five minutes remaining in the second half when there was a crowd in Lewiston’s box, Gerry kicked the ball toward the goal, and it was deflected off a Lewiston player for an own goal.

“It was very difficult to move around the players, but I turned around with my left foot and I shot it,” Gerry said.

Bisher said his team wanted to bring back the trophy — named after former EL soccer player Maca Roddy, who died in a car accident in 1995, and awarded to the winner at the second EL-Lewiston regular-season game — back to Auburn.

“That trophy means a lot to them and that Edward Little pride, the Battle of the Bridge, we had something a little extra today; you can tell Lewiston did, too,” Bisher said. “That’s indicative of how both teams came out.”

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