One thing the Blue Devils’ boys’ soccer team has done so far this season is come out strong. If teams blink early, they might find themselves down a goal.

Edward Little learned that the hard way Wednesday. Lewiston scored just 2:41 into the game, setting the tone early as the Blue Devils dominated the Red Eddies in a 6-0 win.

“When we get an early goal, it just builds up our momentum,” senior Abdi Shariff said. “From there, we have guys that can score from anywhere. So once we build that momentum, we just work to get in a rhythm early on.”

Shariff finished with three goals. He scored again, just 2:07 into the second half and then added another to make it 5-0 in the second half. Lewiston also got goals from Muktar Ali, Abdulkarim Abdulle and Maslah Hassan.

“Starting the game off really fast is our main goal,” Shariff said. “After the quick goals, we can play the game we want to play and play how we want to play.”

Lewiston has outscored opponents 39-2 in five games. Against Bangor, the Blue Devils scored 57 seconds in and built a 2-0 lead seven-plus minutes in. That led to a 5-0 win against a Rams team expected to be among the top Class A North teams. Lewiston scored eight minutes in against Lawrence in an 11-0 win Saturday.

“I think with Bangor, we surprised them with how hard and how fast we came out,” Lewiston coach Mike McGraw said. “Our overall speed, Edward Little hadn’t adjusted to it. We’re just so quick and skillfull.”

EL settled down against the Blue Devils and tried to mount a solid defensive front, but Lewiston’s experience and talent up front proved too much. EL had allowed just two goals all season prior to Wednesday.

“They were as good as advertised and then some,”EL coach Matt Andreasen said. “We heard about how good they were. All my buddies that coach in Western Maine talked about how good they looked in the preseason. We knew how good they were going in and they looked even better. They’re so dynamic and so quick to the ball.”

Lewiston (5-0) outshot EL (1-2-2) 18-0 in the first half and 25-1 overall. The Blue Devils even played much of the game shorthanded after Mohamed Khalid received a red card late in the first half.

“When they had a man sent off, I think they seemed to play better,” Andreasen said. “The same thing happened in a game this summer. They had a man sent off. For whatever reason, they seemed to click and had to rely on one another. The same thing happened today. You almost had to pinch yourself to remember that they were down a man.”

Shariff got his first goal at 2:40, burying a shot off a Zach Abdulle pass. Lewiston had plenty of chances in the first half, but EL goalkeeper Owen Mower made some nice saves. He stopped a Shariff header. Hassan, who played at EL last year, had a nice feed to Shariff in front but Mower broke that up. He also made a diving stop on a redirection of a Maulid Abdow shot.

EL’s only real chance in the first half came off a corner in which Ben Steele had a shot from in front. His bid was blocked and cleared by a Lewiston defender.

Lewiston made it 2-0 with 6:45 left when Noralddin Othman fed Ali on the left side. He raced in for a nifty shot. Then Abdulle beat a couple of defenders on the left side and scored with 2:54 left in the half.

“I have a lot of inexperienced kids that haven’t played in an environment like this,” Andreasen said. “I think they were  a little shell-shocked in the first half.”

Shariff made it 4-0 just 2:07 into the second half when he beat a defender and popped a high shot into the net. He made it 5-0 with 28:22 left. Hassan beat a couple of defenders on the left side and put a pass in front for Shariff. Then with 27:49 left, Hassan scored off a Joseph Kalilwa pass.

Mower finished with 13 saves while Lewiston’s goalkeeper Austin Wing had one save. It was the fourth straight shutout for the Blue Devils, which has outscored opponents 35-0 in the past four games.

“We’re getting better every single day,” Shariff said. “It’s still a long season. There’s a lot of games to go. We’ll put this game behind us and focus on the upcoming games.”

Lewiston plays at Mt. Blue and Brunswick next week and hosts Mt. Ararat a week from Saturday. Despite the strong start, McGraw doesn’t want his team taking things for granted.

“There’s still some things that we have to do a little bit better and play the way I think we should,” McGraw said. “If you start getting satisfied and complacent, that’s when you’re going to pay a price and not feel good about yourself.”

kmills@sunjournal.com