LEWISTON – Tim Mains put himself in the right place and just hoped.

With a dead ball well on the other side of midfield, Edward Little’s front line knew Jeremey Theriault would put the ball in play for the Red Eddies offense. All Mains could do was prepare himself for a chance.

“I just ran into the middle and sat at the 18 hoping that something will bounce back,” said the sophomore forward.

With the game against Lewiston seemingly headed for a draw, Theriault’s boot downfield suddenly created the perfect opportunity. His shot went to the right side where a misplayed ball was redirected in front. There was Mains to boot home the game-winner with 2:46 left in the second overtime. Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Blue Devils keeps the Red Eddies perfect at 5-0.

“I just got lucky, got a lucky bounce, and I just ran on to it,” said Mains of his fourth tally of the year. “It hit off Lewiston’s head, and I happened to be there.”

It was a heartbreaking loss for Lewiston (1-3-1), which was just shy of earning a valuable tie with their unbeaten rivals.

“As discouraged about losing and as down as I am and the team is about losing, I have to look at the fact that we played a really overall good game,” said coach Mike McGraw. “It’s a stepping off point, and we start again on Monday.”

It was a significant win for EL, which has a tough week ahead against some of the top KVAC South teams.

“This is pretty big,” said Mains. “We’ve got Brunswick and Mt. Ararat coming up. This is a big momentum changer.”

The two teams battled back-and-forth despite a gusty wind that swept across the length of the field. Lewiston came out hard early and had EL on its heels, but the Red Eddies settled in.

“I was a little worried that we wouldn’t match up with them physically, but we did OK,” said EL coach Dave Morin. “I thought the first half, they won the physical battles. I think we neutralized that in the second half. We can’t play that fast-paced game, which they like to play. They made us play that way.”

Playing against the win, EL scored on its first shot with 26:58 left in the half. A Steven Giorgetti throw went to Kaleb Davis at the right post. He crossed it to the middle for Ethan Grund.

The lead didn’t last long. Lewiston answered back just 38 seconds later when Shobow Saban drilled a low shot from the left side.

“That showed some character,” said McGraw. “In the past, we’ve had a hard time coming back from a goal down. These guys can. They’ve proven they can comeback.”

The scoring went quiet the rest of the way. Lewiston’s Subeer Osman had a prime chance late in the first half, but EL keeper Josh Mains, Tim’s brother, made a diving save. Theriault put a dead ball in front where it deflected off a body toward the goal, but Lewiston’s Alex Wong was there to clear it.

In the second half, EL used the wind to outshoot Lewiston 8-2, but both clubs had quality tries. Lewiston got a shot from Kurtis Stocker and had a bid by Ali Hersi go over the net.

“We had to make the best of the chances we had because we didn’t have many of them,” said McGraw.

EL had a chance when Austin Polisky shot wide. Branden Lever used nice hustle to get to a ball and put a shot off the crossbar. In the first five-minute overtime, Corey Therriault had a header in front go over the net.

“If you look at us we don’t look that formidable, but the kids are playing okay,” said Morin.