Mt. Blue’s Jared Fontaine, left, makes sure Lewiston’s Joel Musese doesn’t break away from him during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

LEWISTON — The final score read Lewiston 4, Mt. Blue 1, but Thursday’s Class A North boys’ soccer clash between the Blue Devils and Cougars was a learning experience for both teams.

Lewiston (8-0-1) coach Mike McGraw saw plenty of room for improvement for his undefeated team, which is trying to repeat as Class A state champions, while Mt. Blue (5-2-1) coach Joel Smith saw reason for optimism even after his team lost for the second time in three games.

“Tonight there was a lot of growth in this loss,” Smith said. “This is a game-changer for us, definitely. Which is strange to say in a loss. I’m not happy with a loss, but, you know, it was good.”

The Cougars held the Blue Devils to just one goal in the first half. That came about 17 minutes in, when Suab Nur corralled Abdilahi’s long cross and took a couple touches in the box before firing shot past Mt. Blue goalie Xander Gurney.

It took Lewiston six on-target shots to finally get one past Gurney, who made two punching saves on hard boots from Bilal Hersi.

“He did so much to keep us in the game,” Smith said.

“I thought that goalie stopped a couple of great shots,” McGraw said. “I mean, the difference between the keeper making those saves and us scoring is maybe six inches. But you know what, I thought he did a great job.”

Mt. Blue nearly answered less than a minute after Nur’s goal, but Lewiston goalie Dido Lumu was able to making a diving save on Chris Marshall’s 30-yard shot. Lumu then leaped over a crowd in the box and grabbed hold of the ensuing corner kick.

“It was one good look, and we didn’t capitalize. And it was as good as a look as theirs, and (if) we put that one in it’s 1-1 at the half,” Smith said.

Hersi made it 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the second half by taking a through-ball from Ahmed Abadir, side-stepping Gurney, and poking a shot past the recovering Cougars defense.

Mt. Blue responded by taking advantage of a rare Lewiston defensive mistake. Adam Loewen stole a cross-field pass and fed Sam Smith, who fired a 20-yard shot past Lumu at 11:36 of the second half.

Joel Musese re-gained Lewiston’s two-goal lead by side-stepping a defender before firing a shot from the right side past Gurney 14 minutes in.

“I think what it was was they scored, and then they relaxed a second, and you can’t relax, because our guys are good enough to be able to take advantage of a mistake,” McGraw said.

Hersi was credited with the Blue Devils’ final goal when his cross from the left side went in off a Mt. Blue defender who was trying to clear it out with 28 seconds left in the game.

Gurney finished with 11 saves on 15 shots, while Lumu made three saves.

“We know that everybody that comes in to play us is going to play us their A-game, and I’d have it no other way,” McGraw said. “Mt. Blue played us really tough, they played us really hard, and they will be playoff-ready, I can guarantee that.”

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Mt. Blue’s Christopher Marshall, right, passes to a teammate as Lewiston’s Moubarek Abdouraham looks on during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Lewiston’s Suab Nur, left, gets ready to settle the ball as Mt. Blue’s Eli Yeaton moves in to defend but Nur made a nifty move and booted home the only goal of the first half during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Lewiston’s Suab Nur celebrates his goal during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Mt. Blue’s Zack Gunther tries to stop Lewiston’s Cooper Millett as he takes a shot on goal after a breakaway during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Lewiston’s Joel Musese left, and Mt. Blue’s Josh Smith vie for control of a goal kick during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Lewiston’s Hussein Hassan, left and Moubarek Abdouraham, right, battle Mt. Blue’s Samuel Smith for possession of the ball during the first half of Thursday night’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)