EL is peaking late in the season again and wondering just how far it might lead.

The Red Eddies scored twice in the first half and blanked Lewiston 2-0 in a Class A North preliminary game Friday. EL advances to Tuesday’s quarterfinal at Bangor.

“Every game we’re getting better and better,” sophomore forward Piper Norcross said. “I think we’re going to keep getting better as we go along.”

Norcross and Emily Jacques each scored goals as EL won its third straight. EL ended the regular season 5-2-1, scoring 25 goals and allowing just seven, including four shutouts. The Red Eddies started the fall 1-4-1.

One of those wins down the stretch was a 2-1 victory over the Blue Devils last week, and EL repeated that with two timely goals and an outstanding defensive effort to beat Lewiston in the tourney for the second straight year.

“We put two goals in that traditionally this season we haven’t put in like that,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said. “That helped get us going a little bit.”

EL produced its fifth shutout of the season, holding Lewiston to just four shots. Grace Beaudet did an outstanding defensive job on Lewiston’s Adela Kalilwa, while Kaylee Jipson was equally superb marking Kristina Blais.

“We were tired of those two girls beating us,” Latuscha said. “We learned the last couple of games that we played them that those are the girls that are going to beat us. They’re seniors, and they have a lot of heart and there’s some talent there. We shut those girls down and let somebody else beat us.”

Though EL played well from the start, Lewiston picked up its play in the second half. But the Devils couldn’t produce a goal to change the momentum.

“They deserve all the credit,” Lewiston coach Brant Remington said. “They definitely played hard. I think it’s a story of two teams peaking in opposite ways. I think they’re peaking now. They’ve had a real good run lately and had a couple of good wins. We’ve struggled at the end of the season. We’ve had a couple of girls with nagging injuries. We had five double overtime games, and that took its toll on us. We had four in a row. We had a hard time bouncing back from all that. We’ve played a lot of minutes of soccer in a short amount of time.”

EL (7-5-3) played hard from the start and won most of the balls while creating a good attack, producing an early lead that Lewiston (5-9-1) could not overcome.

Latuscha said his girls noticed Lewiston’s bus arrive, and heard the team chanting, “I believe that we will win.” That helped ignite an already smoldering fire that carried over into the first half. 

Norcross scored just 4:37 into the game. A threat in front drew Lewiston keeper Kelsey St. Cyr out of the goal. A loose ball bounced toward’s Norcross, who had an open net.

“I was kind of nervous and then I just kicked it in,” Norcross said. “It all began with Grace Beaudet running in front of the goalie and distracting her. I thought that was a big play. Even though she didn’t touch the ball, she still made a big play doing that.”

EL made it 2-0 with 14:33 left in the half. A defender tried to settle the ball in front of St. Cyr at the left post. The keeper couldn’t get the ball under control, and Jacques was there to kick it in to double the lead.

Lewiston’s only real threat in the first half came when Kalilwa was in front, but she couldn’t get a shot off before keeper Francesca-Beth Haines got to the ball.

In the second half, the Blue Devils played more aggressive and created some pressure. Alanna Taylor had a shot from the outside. Taylor Chamberlain got behind the defense but the ball was cleared out by the keeper. Kalilwa had a number of chances and Chamberlain had another try saved by Haines.

“One would have definitely made a difference because I think we got them flat-footed a few times in the second half,” Remington said. “It just didn’t happen.”

EL will face second-seeded Bangor (11-1-2). The Rams beat EL earlier in the year 4-2.

“We lost 4-2 but it was 2-2 with like three minutes to go,” Latuscha said. “I’m excited about it.”

For Lewiston, the Blue Devils end another successful season, especially considering the team went 0-12-2 just two seasons ago.

“I’m real proud of what they’ve accomplished this year,” Remington said. “We had a lot of different girls playing different spots. Two years in a row now we’ve made the playoffs. We’re a lower seed this year but at times, we were playing better than we were last year.” 

kmills@sunjournal.com