TOPSHAM — One by one, Mt. Ararat High School girls’ soccer coach Sam Chard inserted players who up until this year were walking the halls of the middle school.
Five freshmen started for the Eagles, goaltender Kate Guerin, defenders Katelyn Cox, Anna Manuel and Lauren Labbay, and midfielder Nikki Bradstreet, on Mt. Ararat’s Senior Night, and the Eagles used that youth, mixed in with a few seasoned veterans, for a 3-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win over Lewiston on a chilly Tuesday night.
The victory gives Eastern Maine Class A No. 2 Mt. Ararat a 9-1 record with a visit to Lawrence scheduled for Thursday, while the Blue Devils fell to 0-9-1 and host top-ranked Bangor on Saturday.
Bradstreet’s goal 10:09 into the game, off an assist from sophomore standout Torri Pelletier, staked the Eagles to a 1-0 lead, and Mt. Ararat’s defense held up before the offense produced a pair of late goals to put the game out of reach.
“I have a good group of seniors that have taken the freshmen under their wings,” said Chard. “They hang out together, do things together, and that is what you want. It makes the freshmen feel comfortable.”
Leading by a goal, junior Christine Levesque fired a low shot past the dive of Lewiston keeper Kelsey St. Cyr (13 saves) with 6:32 remaining, and senior Sierra Gilley finished things off with 2:53 remaining to cap her Senior Night in style.  
“You just have to focus on the big picture and realize it is all or nothing,” said Gilley, who is excited to know she will leave the Eagles in good hands after this season. “It feels good being able to have confidence in the team you will be leaving, and knowing the program will be in good hands after.”
For Lewiston and coach Frank “Butch” Dow, the effort was there as the Blue Devils had a few chances to tie the game early in the second half.
“We haven’t scored many goals this year, so if we could have scored one against Mt. Ararat, that would have fueled us to go even harder,” said Dow, who likes the way his team is playing down the stretch. “We played with a lot of heart, knowing that they have more skill than us. In order to compete with skill, you have to play with heart and win the 50-50 balls, which I felt we did throughout the game.”
Dow believes his Blue Devils can make one last push for a postseason berth this season.
“If we can beat Skowhegan and Messalonskee, and maybe EL, that could put us in the last slot,” said the Lewiston coach. “Edward Little beat Bangor, so for us to get a win against them might just do it if we can finish out strong.”
“Lewiston had nothing to lose and everything to gain, and we talked about that halftime,” said Chard of the Blue Devils. “We know that we’re going to make mistakes, especially after changing our formation recently from a three-back system to four defenders. We wanted to put more pressure on and we went back to three in the second half, leaving us a little bit open on the defensive end. We have played with a three-back system most of the season, and I think they got used to having four back there.”
Early goal
Mt. Ararat spent the majority of the first half on Lewiston’s side of the field, outshooting the Blue Devils 11-2. Bradstreet’s goal came after the hard work of Pelletier, who beat two Lewiston defenders before sending a pass through to Bradstreet, whose shot beat St. Cyr for a 1-0 Eagles lead.
Lewiston’s Sam Cote forced Guerin to make two saves in the first half as Mt. Ararat took a 1-0 edge to the half.
After Bradstreet missed an open shot early in the second frame, Lewiston, behind the play of midfielders Adela Kalilwa, Hailey Lebel, Cote and Morgan Eliasen cut Mt. Ararat off at midfield, giving the Blue Devils a few chances to tie the game. Gabby Barrett just missed a chance from in front, and Kristina Blais watched her shot sail wide of the target.
At the other end of the field, Lewiston defender Heather Kendall saved a goal when she booted an Erin Tome open look away from the goal line to keep the Blue Devils behind by just a goal, but Mt. Ararat again took over the territorial advantage and eventually produced two more goals to seal it.
Katie Labbay was strong on defense for Mt. Ararat, while midfielders Levesque, Gilley, Danielle Krause and Bradstreet kept Lewiston away from the net, with Guerin making four saves.
The Eagles held a 2-1 edge in corner kicks.