AUBURN – Val Brown was hoping Saturday could be a day of revival and renewal for her soccer team.

After a disappointing loss Thursday, her Edward Little soccer team needed to get back on track, and a 1-0 victory over their rivals from Lewiston couldn’t have come at a better time.

“First, we had lost three in a row,” said Brown. “Two, this was a rival game. It’s always a big game. The Lewiston games are always the two biggest games of the year no matter where you’re at. I just thought today going into the Leavitt game (Tuesday) and then having a week off, we really needed to reignite where we were at before. We were playing very well before, and now we’re seeing glimpses of it again.”

Freshman Kirsten Prue scored midway through the opening half and provided the only scoring. Brittney French had the shutout in goal as EL produced a more solid defensive effort after Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Oxford Hills.

“We went back to basics, and we talked about defensive positioning” said Brown. “We were able to move very well in the back today. We didn’t have the lost marks, and we weren’t changing marks. We stayed with them. That was a huge benefit defensively.”

EL also struggled offensively in the loss to the Vikings. The Red Eddies failed to muster much possession or offensive chances in that loss.

“We thought we were going to win that,” said Prue. “We were hoping to win that game, and thought we could. We just didn’t come out the way we wanted to.”

EL (3-4) rectified that effort against Lewiston (1-5). EL moved Katelyn St. Hilaire to stopper and had Danielle Paul and Alice Read in the midfield. Those changes gave EL the ball movement it lacked earlier in the week.

“Distribution-wise, we had better looks and better forms of attack today with that change,” said Brown. “I thought we did a real nice job up the middle, and Kirsten Prue worked really hard up top.”

It was a free kick by Read on the right side that set up Prue in front. Prue drilled in a low shot for her fourth of the year with 22:06 left in the half.

“I was just there, and I kicked it in,” said Prue. “That really pumped us up, and we were ready to go.”

Lewiston had some chances late in the half. A nice run by Lea Morin set up a Emilie Cloutier shot that went wide. Kelsey Rodrigue fought off two defenders in front for a shot that French saved. Rodrigue also had a dead ball opportunity in the final seconds.

“We’re playing hard,” said Lewiston coach Rick Meyers. “We’re just not getting quality shots on goal. We’re getting chances. I just hope we’ll open up the floodgates here soon. They’re definitely showing the effort and playing hard.”

EL’s defense did a nice job on Rodrigue in the second half. Lewiston even tried moving her back. Rodrigue had a cross for Erica Morin early in the half. A Cloutier header off a Marie Labbe pass went wide.

“They did great marking (Rodrigue) up,” said Meyers. “We actually had her come back and helping our defense and trying new looks. You’ve got to try and experiment with that stuff and hope it works. We’re trying to find the right connection.”