TOPSHAM — Abdulkarim Abdulle scored goals in the closing moments of each half to propel Lewiston to an important 2-1 win against Mt. Ararat in a KVAC boys’ soccer game Tuesday night.
With the rare win on the Eagles’ home field the Blue Devils’ improved to 9-0-1 and stayed in the top spot in the Eastern Class A Heal point standings.
“This was worth everything to (Mt. Ararat) and everything to us,” Lewiston Coach Mike McGraw said. “To come into this stadium and win against a team that knows how to play pressure soccer is huge.”
The victory moved Lewiston, which hosts Bangor in a key matchup Friday night, another step closer to nailing down home-field advantage for each round in the regional tournament.
Each of the last two seasons the Devils ended up as the second-seeded team in the regionals and lost to the top-seeded club on the road in the final.
“(Lewiston) didn’t give up,” Mt. Ararat Coach Rick Renaud said. “Our kids don’t understand that it’s the little things. It’s never giving up and Lewiston played to the last second.”
The game was played at a brisk pace as both teams tried to move the ball up the field quickly with each change of possession.
“We got a little tired, which is fine, but you have to play through that,” Renaud said. “The teams that go (far in the tournament) are the teams that play through that.”
With 1:19 left in the first half, Abdulle opened the scoring by finishing off a quick counterattack by slamming in a shot from the right side of the penalty area inside the far post.
The goal came moments after goalie Hussein Ibrahim made a sensational save on Andrew McCracken’s shot from 10 yards.
Ibrahim, normally a central defender, filled in for goalkeeper Austin Wing, who injured an ankle during a 2-2 tie at Brunswick last week.
“It was his first game (in goal) when we weren’t ahead by four goals,” McGraw said, who also noted that Ibrahim worked with goalie coach Per Henricksen to prepare. “He’s an athlete and he’s got some quickness.”
The Eagles (7-2-2), taking advantage of a favoring wind to gain a territorial advantage during the second half, pulled into a tie less than 15 minutes into the second half.
Chris Pepin looped a direct kick from near the top of the bubble over a five-man defensive wall, and Trevor Mayo banged it in from inside the goalie box.
“It was my fault because I called my guys to make a higher wall and (Mt. Ararat) got (the ball) behind it,” McGraw said.
With two minutes left, Abdulle scored the winner by knocking in a rebound off a defender after goalie Jon Roux stopped three quick shots.
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