AUBURN — Edward Little attacker Camren Dufour did exactly what coach Tom Smith was looking for from his team Monday — get open often.

“We were looking for cutters and he was making a cut and getting himself open around the crease,” Smith said. “He was also getting a little more aggressive with the ball and locating his shots on cage.

Dufour scored five times — a season-high output for him — to lead the eighth-seeded Red Eddies to a 12-5 win against ninth-seeded Deering in a Class A North boys lacrosse prelim game at Walton Field.

The Red Eddies (3-10) will travel to take on top-seeded Falmouth (9-3) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a Class A North quarterfinal game.

Dufour couldn’t pinpoint why he scored so much.

“I don’t know, I was just getting shots off, and I was trying to get open as much as possible,” Dufour said.

Wesley and Andrew Clements each scored three times for the Red Eddies.

“We haven’t had multiple players with multiple goals (this year),” Smith said. “It’s usually one guy that is hot and is able to (carry us), but it was great to spread the wealth around.”

After the teams only scored once each in the first quarter, with Coleman Ballweg scoring for Deering (1-12) and Andrew Clements for Edward Little, the offense started to open up in the second quarter.

The Red Eddies won the opening face-off in the second quarter and Dufour gave Edward Little a 2-1 lead eight seconds into the period.

Andrew Burke tied the game at 2-2, firing a shot past Edward Little goalie Daulton David nearly five minutes into the second quarter.

It was the last goal Deering scored in the first half.

“We slowly (started) to get in penalty trouble and (Edward Little) started capitalizing on our mistakes,” Deering coach Geoffrey Arris said.

A Red Eddies three-goal run started nearly halfway through the second quarter when Wesley Clements weaved through the box and beat Deering goalie Aidan Foss.

Tyler Smith put the Red Eddies up 4-2 just past the seven-minute mark of the second quarter and Andrew Clements scored in the final minute of the first half to make it 5-2.

Deering scored quickly in the third quarter when Burke tallied his second goal in the game.

Edward Little went on another run, with Wesley Clements stretching the lead to 6-3 and then Dufour also recording his second goal of the game for a 7-3 advantage.

The Red Eddies’ third-quarter surge continued with Dufour and Wesley Clements each scoring their third goal of the game for a 9-3 lead.

Andrew Clements joined the three-goal party 12 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Smith said the defense did its job again, as it has done throughout the season.

“Our defense has been doing a really good job this year,” Smith added. “They are able to keep us in games otherwise we wouldn’t be in.”

Billy MacVane scored for the Rams to cut the deficit to 10-4. Burke scored his third goal of the game and Deering cut the deficit to 10-5.

Despite the loss, Arris is excited about Burke’s future.

“He’s only a sophomore and bigger things are coming for him,” Arris said. “He’s our leader, he’s our captain, and he’s our go-to guy. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort he puts in. He rarely comes off the field.”

Dufour scored in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 11-5. He capped the scoring with a behind-the-back goal in the final seconds of the game.

He surprised himself with that goal.

“When everyone started cheering,” Dufour said when he knew he scored. “I didn’t think it would go in.”

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