Lewiston’s Mardoche Kikobo drives down the field during a recent soccer game in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

LEWISTON — It’s been more than a calendar year since the Lewiston boys’ soccer team has allowed more than one goal in a game.

There have been 11 shutouts in that span, including in last year’s Class A state championship.

The defending champions picked up where they left off last year, even if some of the names and faces aren’t the same — though having two of the four starting defenders back and a returning goalie certainly has helped.

This season, the Blue Devils have allowed just four goals through their first 11 games, and have gone 10-0-1 to grab hold of the top spot in Class A North.

“Four goals wasn’t our target. We (knew we were going to) concede a little bit, but it happened that we conceded four, and I hope it’s the last one, the four we have limited this season,” senior goalie Dido Lumu said.

The season started with a scoreless draw against Bangor, and although it has been the Blue Devils’ lone non-win of the season so far, shutting out last year’s No. 1 seed and regional runner-up gave them confidence, according to senior defender Mardoche Kikobo — one of the two returning starters in the back.

For the other returner, fellow senior Enock Citenga, confidence came from last year’s state title game, when the sweeper helped shut down Portland striker Pedro Fonseca.

“It gave me a lot of confidence, because after that game I think pretty much everyone in the state knew who I was finally, and it’s kind of something I’ve been pushing towards,” Citenga said. “And it built my confidence to the first game against Bangor to make sure we had a shutout, and it worked.”

Having the trio of Lumu, Kikobo and Citenga back has been a big part of Lewiston’s continued defensive dominance.

“I think the senior leadership with Dido, Enock and Mardoche, you know the kids followed their lead,” Lewiston coach Mike McGraw said. “And what they did in the offseason, they play together a lot. So, I mean, it was a natural evolution.”

McGraw said he thought his defense was going to be “pretty good,” and the Blue Devils’ back line hasn’t let him down. Junior Moubarak Abdourahman has slid in seamlessly to the stopper position at the top of the diamond defensive formation, and a trio led by Ayub Hassan (along with Ahmed Hussein and Hussein Hassan) have filled the role on the defensive left side.

“It’s a testament to the depth that we have,” McGraw said.

As easy as the defense has made it look, becoming a brick wall of sorts has taken some work. That all started with better communication among the four players out on the field.

“Preseason, it wasn’t there at all. Our first preseason game against South Portland, there was no communication at all,” Citenga said. “It’s something we had to develop as the games came along.”

“We keep working on it in practice, you know, talking to each other in practice,” Kikobo said. “We want to keep improving our defense to make it better.”

A rare communication breakdown led to one of the rare goals allowed, against Mt. Blue. It was also a rare time that Lumu got beat, according to McGraw, though Sam Smith’s shot was nearly unstoppable in McGraw’s opinion.

The Blue Devils’ defensive dominance has in part coincided with Lumu’s ascension to starting goalie midway through last season. A 1-0 loss at Mt. Ararat last year has been the only blemish since the one-or-none goal streak started after a 3-2 win at Mt. Blue on September 28 of last year.

“Dido’s done some wonderful things,” McGraw said.

Lumu said “it made his job easier” having solid defenses in front of him.

“Having them in front of me is one of the things I’ll always appreciate,” Lumu added.

“Other goalkeepers in the state have to make a lot of saves, but Dido, he makes the clutch saves,” Citenga said. “If our defense gets beat he’s the guy that I’ll know is behind me and he’ll make those saves that are really important in the game.”

The Blue Devils will need Lumu to stay clutch, and for the defense to remain stingy, with the final three games of the regular season against playoff contenders Mt. Ararat, Brunswick and Edward Little.

“The coaches expect us to play our best game every day. To play like as if it was a final, to go really hard,” Kikobo said.

“Us four together, pretty much if we have a good game I don’t think any team can score on us,” Citenga said.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

Moubarek Abdourahman dribbles the ball down the field at a recent soccer game in Lewiston. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Moubarek Abdourahman heads a ball away from Edward Little’s Christian Beliveau during a boys’ soccer game in Auburn in September. (Adam Robinson/Sun Journal File Photo)