AUBURN — Edward Little and visitors Mt. Ararat both had equally talented boys high school soccer squads on the field Friday afternoon. But it was the grit and hustle of the Red Eddies, propelling the home team to 2-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win.
Both Edward Little’s Noah Peck (left) and Mt. Ararat’s Eli Ouellette go after the ball during the first half of a boys high school soccer game at Edward Little High School on Friday. The Red Eddies prevailed 2-0 in the KVAC clash. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
The Red Eddies received goals from Austin Brown and Hassan Jibril in the win as they improved to 4-3, while the Eagles had their four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-3.
“Edward Little wanted it more today,” Mt. Ararat coach Jack Rioux said. “We were flat and in this league whoever wants it more is going to win and EL wanted it more today.”
Keeper Mack Samson turned away all six shots he faced, including a pair midway through the second half to preserve the win.
“Mack has put in a lot of work,” EL coach Tim Mains said. “We brought in a goalie coach in the offseason and throughout the season and he’s done a lot of great work with him. We’re starting to see the payoff of all of that, he played a great game today.”
The Red Eddies nearly scored nine minutes into the contest when Jacob Jackson’s throw in was nearly knocked in the net, but Eagles keeper James Singleton (three saves) came up with the save.
With just under five minutes remaining in the half, after the Eagles defense failed to clear the ball, Brown’s nifty moves through the Mt. Ararat defense pulled out Singleton and the forward blasted home a shot for the score.
The score stood at 1-0 after 40 minutes of play. The Red Eddies held a slight advantage in shots, 4-3 and took all five corner kicks taken by either side in the opening frame.
“I was thrilled with how the first half went,” Mains said. “We limited their opportunities tremendously and I thought we had four or five good chances. I was a little worried at the half when we only put one away, Mt. Ararat is always a good team and they stole a little bit of energy to start the half.”
Edward Little’s Jamaine Luizzo (12) keeps the ball from going accross the end line to prevent a Mt. Ararat corner kick as the Eagles Jonah Zell applies pressure at Friday’s KVAC boys high school soccer game at Edward Little High School. The Red Eddies blanked Mt. Ararat, 2-0. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
Mt. Ararat did come out with more energy and urgency in the second half, and 13 minutes in, the Eagles had a clear shot on goal but was turned away by Samson’s save. Minutes later, the visitors had their first corner, but again, a punch-out by Samson on an Eagles blast kept it a one-goal game.
“It’s really important we have everyone marked up,” Samson said on the Red Eddies corner kick defense. “It’s been a problem for us as we’ve (given) up some goals with that so we practiced it this week and made sure we didn’t concede on corners.”
The Red Eddies added another score with 14:51 on the clock after a Jackson throw in sailed to the middle of the box and was picked up by the head of Jibril for the second goal.
“I was a nervous there for a bit,” Mains said of the one-goal lead. “But our boys bounced back and were able to tuck one away and give us a little bit of breathing room.”
Samson expressed the importance of the second tally.
“It was huge. As soon as we got that second goal, we were a little more relaxed,” Samson, starting his second year in net for the Red Eddies said. “Not that we were going to settle, but because Mt. Ararat is good team and any KVAC game is tough.”
“They had that throw in, it’s a weapon every single time,” Rioux said of Jackson’s throw that goes 35-40 yards in the air. “We talked all day yesterday that we had to be good with our clearances and limit their amount of throws. They scored their goals on a poor clearance and throw in.”
An Elias Theberge direct kick that landed in the arms of Samson with nine minutes left was the Eagles last true chance.
“There was a lot more urgency in the second half, but we didn’t play smart,” Rioux said. “We were trying to go straight down the middle, touches were off, on a whole, we were sluggish. We’re on to Lewiston.”
Eagles senior captain Mason Brigham summed up his team’s play afterwards.
“Effort was our biggest problem, not a lot of effort from the whole team,” Brigham said. “We didn’t come prepared and I think we
Mt. Ararat’s Mason Brigham (4) pulls away from Edward Little’s Josh Lavigne during Friday’s KVAC boys high school soccer game at Edward Little High School. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
underestimated them. We weren’t ready to play and that goes for everyone on this team. This is a tough league and you need to bring it each game. But our players are strong and we’ll get back at it, on to Lewiston.”
The Eagles host Lewiston at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Riverside Field in Topsham. EL travels to Brewer Tuesday to play the Witches at 6 p.m.
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