Lewiston girls soccer wins finale against Edward Little

Lewiston players celebrate with Marissa Veilleux, second from right, after Veilleux scored a goal in the first half to put Lewiston up 2-0. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

AUBURN — The pouring rain Monday didn’t dampen the celebration for Edward Little’s seniors and didn’t hinder the play of Lewiston.

About 60 of the 80 minutes in the Class A girls soccer game between the two rivals was played in a downpour. Lewiston played what coach Kevin Albert said was the “most complete game that we’ve played,” and picked up a 3-1 win.

“This is where I felt like we could be and should have been throughout the season,” Albert said. “The kids wanted it really bad; they played so hard and just were excited to play tonight in the weather, and just have a lot of fun.”

Edward Little honored six seniors — Lola Cunningham, Sophia Cote, Kaisley Marquis, Maddie Ranger, Olivia Turgeon and Alexis Childs — in a ceremony before the game

“To at least celebrate them as seniors tonight was huge,” Edward Little coach Tyler Sennett said. “Obviously not the result we wanted, but just to be out here on the pitch with them was huge, so there’s definitely a lot of waterworks.”

Both teams finished 2-12.

“I think we just came together and realized this is our last game as a team together, and we really wanted to end off with a win,” said Lewiston’s Brooklyn Beaudoin.

WHAT WORKED FOR LEWISTON?

The Red Eddies won the first matchup between the teams, 2-1 on Sept. 10 in Lewiston. The difference Monday, Shennett said, was Lewiston scored on its set pieces.

The Blue Devils scored three times on corner kicks, something that pleasantly surprised Albert.

“The funny thing is, quite honestly, we were really bad defending corners this year,” Albert said. “We got scored on a lot and we were like, ‘God, it would sure be nice if we could just get a couple, maybe get one where we could feel good about it…’ It was nice to be on the positive side of some corners.”

Julia Andrews scored just four minutes into the game when she headed in a corner kick by Ella Beaudoin. Marissa Veilleux made it 2-0 when she scored off a corner kick by Olivia Tapley with 3:38 left in the first half. Beaudoin scored the game’s final goal with 20:47 left.

“Lilly (Beaulieu) literally kicked it, it was like a bullet,” Ella Beaudoin said. “It was literally perfect.”

Marquis scored for Edward Little with 32:38 left.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Lewiston: Julia Andrews (one goal), Ella Beaudoin (one goal), Marissa Veilleux (one goal), Emily Desrosiers (seven saves on eight shots).

• Edward Little: Kaisley Marquis (one goal).

THEY SAID IT

• “I feel like everybody played their best games today. You could definitely tell the difference, and obviously, with the rain, it was definitely a hurdle. But I think … this is the best we’ve played all season. I’m so proud of everybody.” — Ella Beaudoin, Lewiston senior.

• “On the offensive side, although we didn’t do it a whole lot, these are the kind of nights where you shoot the ball as much as you can, knowing it’s going to skip. Maybe one gets by the keeper; that happened against us tonight. It slid, skipped off, hit (Emily Desrosiers) on the side of the glove and went in. I mean, anything can happen on nights like this, which makes it a little exciting.” — Kevin Albert, Lewiston coach.

• “I like to think it is one of the biggest rivalries in the state … I mean, it’s definitely a game you hate to lose, but it’s a game that brings something different out of the athletes, without a doubt, because there’s just so much more on the line. You relish in this opportunity to play in a game like this, without a doubt, so to lose this one, especially considering we hadn’t lost this one in my coaching career yet, was a tough one.” — Tyler Shennett, Edward Little coach.