LEWISTON — In a tight, physical game, Lewiston came out on top in another rivalry classic with Edward Little.
Behind Abdimalik Nur’s game-winning goal in the second half, the top-seeded Blue Devils won the Class A North regional semifinal contest 2-1 at Don Roux Field on Friday night.
“I’d say that goal felt unreal just because of the moment it came,” Nur said. “… It feels great.”
It’s the second straight year that Lewiston has beaten Edward Little in the regional semifinals. The two rivals split the regular season series this year, with Lewiston winning 2-0 in early September and Edward Little closing out the regular season with a 5-3 win.
“Every year, every game is a battle,” Lewiston coach Dan Gish said. “It’s great when you win. You feel bad for those guys (on Edward Little) … you go camping with some of those coaches. We see each other; we know each other. I hate to see them hurt, but they had chances. They could have buried it, and they could have capitalized as well. We bent, but we didn’t break.”
Edward Little coach Max Thompson said the fifth-seeded Red Eddies played well enough to come out on top.
“I was not unhappy the way we played,” Thompson said. “Lewiston got some phenomenal players that are hard to keep off the scoreboard. The boys did really well. We had some good opportunities and that’s sometimes how the game goes.”
The Blue Devils (13-2-1) now advance to the regional final, which is scheduled for Tuesday at Lewiston High School.
Both teams had a scoring opportunity in the first 10 minutes of Friday’s game. Dayow Daud’s free kick went wide of the frame in the eighth minute for the Red Eddies (11-5). The following minute, Mohammed Gabow received the ball and broke into the 18-yard box on a breakaway, but when Edward Little goalie Eli St. Laurent came out to challenge, Gabow slid the shot just wide of the far post.
Lewiston took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Tegra Mbele deflected a Mustafa Hassan pass with a sliding kick past St. Laurent.
“The first big opportunity we had, there’s no way I could let the opportunity escape,” Mbele said through teammate Obed Antonio, who served as a translator. “I took it and executed it.”
Gish said Mbele is completing his chances more often lately.
“Tegra, he’s so dynamic, he’s fast, he has improved so much, he’s getting there with his finishing,” Gish said. “He’s coming on strong, and he has a nose for the goal.”
The Blue Devils had two chances in the box in the 25th minute to extend the lead but couldn’t finish.
Edward Little tied the game in the 30th minute of the first half when Ben Cole had an opening to make a pass to Daud into the box. Daud chipped the ball over Lewiston goalie Payson Goyette for the goal.
The Red Eddies had a few chances to take a lead going into halftime, including a header off a free kick that just missed the net.
It was a lively start to the second half when the Blue Devils had a few chances off a corner kick in the fourth minute after the Red Eddies couldn’t clear the ball.
Cam Roy had a grade-A chance in the box two minutes later for Edward Little, but the ball sailed over the crossbar and through the uprights of the football field goal frame.
“You work for those opportunities and you hope they arrive; it’s a special moment for a kiddo,” Thompson said. “(Roy) will have plenty of opportunities, he’s a really talented kid, and he’s a sophomore. I couldn’t be more proud of the way he has come to his own this season.”
St. Laurent made a point-blank stop on a breakaway in the seventh minute. Shortly thereafter, Lewiston appeared to score off a corner kick, but the referees called interference on the goalie.
Nur put the Blue Devils up 2-1 midway through the second half when Jacinto Mavinga fed the sophomore in the box and Nur’s line-drive shot found the back of the net.
“He’s an excellent player, he’s going to be a player to reckon the next couple of years,” Gish said.
Nur said the remainder of the game seemed to drag on, but he was confident the team would hold on.
“The final 20 minutes felt like forever,” Nur said. “Our team was doing great, we headed the ball out, we cleared the ball out. We sometimes held the ball so we could waste time. That got us the win.”
The Red Eddies almost got lucky in the 29th minute when the ball got deflected toward the goal in the box, but Goyotte made the save. A Thiago Linhares shot in the 35th minute from just outside the box went wide.
“We tried to move a few more guys up to see if we could add a little more pressure,” Thompson said. “That adds pressure to the back end and those guys held up well. A 2-1 game is a tight game. It is what it is, sometimes the chances don’t fall your way.”
REGIONAL FINAL TICKETS
The only way to purchase tickets for Tuesday’s regional final is through MPA’s ticket vendor here.
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