AUBURN — Lewiston scored two second-half goals to earn a 2-0 Class A North field hockey victory over rival Edward Little in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday.

Lewiston improves to 10-3-1 and is one of five teams in the Class A North playoffs with nine or more wins. Edward Little ends the season 4-10.

The Blue Devils finally broke through with 3:53 left in the third quarter when Luci Tremblay scored with an assist from Lauren Cote.

“I was hidden by one of my teammates and (the ball) bounced off of either the goalie or defender,” Tremblay said. “I’m not really sure which one, but then it just popped back to me, and I saw the opportunity and just smacked it in.”

Ayannay Holloman made it 2-0 just 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, with an assist from Cote.

“We talked about playing a little quicker the second the whistle blows, just start up quickly and just keep the offensive momentum going,” said Lewiston coach Jenessa Talarico. “I think we had it down there a decent amount in the first half, but we were really getting stuck at the 25-yard line. Just harder passes, harder entries into the circle.”

DEFENSIVE STRATEGIES FOR BOTH TEAMS

Edward Little coach Kim Joler knew a matchup with Lewiston, a team that tied Class A North leader Skowhegan, would be tough. The Red Eddies focused on preventing the Blue Devils from scoring on penalty corners.

“Honestly, we were able to have possession of the ball a good amount of times, we just couldn’t capture that moment in the cage,” Joler said. “Overall, we wanted to eliminate that left side and really just work on our right. It was touch and go for a little bit of time, but soon we were able to move that ball right when we needed to.”

Lewiston, meanwhile, held Edward Little to one shot. Talarico credited the leadership of senior defender Emma Mills and senior goalie Shelby Vallee with guiding the Blue Devils’ otherwise young defensive unit.

“We have those two senior players who are strong, and then a young one (Paige Taylor) who has just stepped up big time for us this year,” Talarico said.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Lewiston (10-3-1): Luci Tremblay (one goal), Lauren Cote (two assists), Ayannay Holloman (one goal)

• Edward Little (4-10): Arabella Harris (seven saves)

They said it

• “We tied Skowhegan, who’s No. 1, so we know (what we can do) if we put our minds to it, and we’ve got to work hard and practice this next week and hope for the best. — Jenessa Talarico, Lewiston coach

• “(The first goal), I think it just gave us a lot more confidence. I think we came out with not as much energy as we should have, and it definitely hyped us up to get more energy into the second half.” — Luci Tremblay, Lewiston junior

• “I didn’t know I was going to get (the goal), because I miss a lot. But then I was just so happy. It’s just excitement.” — Ayannay Holloman, Lewiston senior