Lewiston’s Christine Chasse (11) fires a shot through traffic toward Edward Little goalie Mariah Vaillancourt in the first half of Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal at Garcelon Field.
LEWISTON — If there was any chance of Edward Little rallying back against Lewiston in Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal, that chance went out the window 12 seconds into the second half.
Morgan Eliasen won the opening draw — something she did a lot Tuesday — before quickly finding Shaima Naji for a goal and a 5-0 lead.
The Blue Devils never let up from there, beating their rivals 10-2 at Garcelon Field on the campus of Bates College.
“The quick 12-second goal to start, the girls kind of made a statement like, ‘Hey, this is our game, and we’re taking control,'” Lewiston coach Brant Remington said.
Eliasen took control time and time again for the third-seeded Blue Devils (9-4), helping Lewiston dominate possession in the game.
“She got almost every draw today,” EL coach Jess Somers said. “She’s very strong at that position, and as soon as she caught it, unfortunately we were caught out of position, caught off guard. We were struggling once they gained possession of the draw.”
“Lacrosse is all about possession, so to get that first draw right off the bat, to go right into our offensive set, it makes it really for us to score and keep the lead,” Eliasen said.
Lewiston took the lead quickly. Christine Chasse fed Erin Lachance two minutes in.
It was another five minutes before the Blue Devils scored again, but when they did they the scored twice in 50 seconds. Sasha Leclair made it 2-0 with an unassisted goal, then Eliasen assisted on Rachel Ouellette’s goal before the eight-minute mark.
The sixth-seeded Red Eddies (6-7) tried their best to answer, but Kaylee Jipson’s would-be goal 10 minutes in was called off because of a crease violation.
“It kind of helped let the wind out of our sails for a moment,” Somers said. “That would have been a real big boost for us.”
Edward Little’s first shot on goal for the game didn’t come until the midway point of the first half, with the Red Eddies a man-up. But Lewiston goalie CeCe Racine saved that offering, as well as two more in the first half, including a free-position shot by Megan Steele.
The score stayed 3-0 until the final five minutes of the half, despite the Red Eddies evening out possession after Lewiston’s initial surge. Julia St. Laurent scored with an assist Naji to give the Blue Devils momentum heading into halftime.
Eliasen’s draw dominance and Naji’s shooting touch made sure that momentum stayed to start the second half.
“A lot of it’s just using my height,” Eliasen said. “It’s a little bit of just being able to field the ball, knowing where the other person is trying to go.”
Naji was on the giving end of Chasse’s goal 3:31 into the second half to push the lead to 6-0 before the Red Eddies got on the board. Haley Frohlich fed Jipson from behind the goal to in front of it three minutes after Chasse’s goal.
Naji answered 57 second later with an unassisted goal — with some help from an Eliasen draw control — to keep momentum on Lewiston’s side.
Katie Lemieux, Chasse (from Eliasen) and Dacia Bail all added goals in the next 2:22 to round out the scoring for the Blue Devils.
“I’ve got quite a few weapons offensively that can score some goals,” Remington said. “You never know who’s going to step up.”
Piper Norcross scored EL’s final goal with just under five minutes left in the game — and the Red Eddies’ season.
“They took a great step forward,” Somers said. “I’ve been with the program for 10 years, this is the first time we’ve ever gone .500. We had six wins, six losses. We’ve never been that successful before, so I was very proud of them. If we can just start getting some young kids playing in Auburn, some youth players in Auburn, it’s going to make a huge difference.”
In her final high school game, EL senior goalie Mariah Vaillancourt stopped 11 of 21 shots on goal.
The Blue Devils now advance to the regional semifinals on Thursday, and they will travel to No. 2 Windham. The two teams didn’t meet during the regular season.
“What we’ve been focusing on the last month is play our game,” Remington said, “and if someone is just going to beat us, they’re going to beat us. They’re going to have beat us at our game.”
And someone will have to beat Eliasen to a draw.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Lewiston’s Rachel Ouellette, left, speeds away from Edward Little’s Sierra Green during the first half of Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal at Garcelon Field.
Lewiston’s Morgan Eliasen leaps above Edward Little’s Megan Steele on a draw during the first half of Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal at Garcelon Field.
Edward Little’s Jade Perry (14) tries to pass the ball out of a group of Lewiston defenders that includes, from left to right, Rachel Ouellette, Katie Lemieux and Julia St. Laurent during the first half of Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal at Garcelon Field.
Lewiston’s Meghan Morris, left, tries to fight through the stick of Edward Little’s Sierra Green during the first half of Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal at Garcelon Field.
Lewiston’s Morgan Eliasen, left, and Edward Little’s Megan Steele track the ball in the air off a draw during the first half of Tuesday’s Class A North girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal at Garcelon Field.
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