**Lewiston and Edward Little Showcase Defensive Strength in Scoreless Draw**
LEWISTON — There’s an old saying in sports: “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” Both Lewiston and Edward Little demonstrated this defensive prowess Tuesday in a tightly contested boys soccer regular-season finale that ended in a 0-0 draw.
“I thought both teams played solid defensively,” said Blue Devils coach Dan Gish. “We had opportunities, so I felt good about our chances, and we’ve just got to keep carrying that going forward. The real season starts now. No one cares about your regular-season record. The seedings fall where they are.”
Both teams entered the rivalry showdown comfortably in playoff position. The Blue Devils (9-1-4), ranked third in the latest Varsity Maine boys soccer poll, appear to have the second seed in Class A North secured, while the Red Eddies (5-5-4) will likely take the No. 4 seed.
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### Edward Little’s Tough Schedule
All five of Edward Little’s losses have come against teams ranked in the top seven of the Varsity Maine poll: No. 3 Lewiston, No. 4 Camden Hills, No. 5 Greely, and No. 7 Brunswick (twice). Each defeat was by a single goal, with all but one ending 1-0.
“If this group can figure it out, I think we’re going to be pretty dangerous once we can put some balls in the back of the net, because defensively, I think we’re pretty solid,” said Red Eddies coach Max Thompson.
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### Strong Defense Started with the Keepers
Senior goalie Will Diamond-Stanic was instrumental for the Blue Devils, stopping all five shots he faced. His final save came in dramatic fashion—a diving stop off a free kick in the second overtime.
“I’m setting up my wall; I like three there so I’m not getting overly screened, especially since there’s an angle,” Diamond-Stanic explained. “My thought was to deny a back post to the left-footer, to curl it into the back post while still covering enough of the near post. There was something with a flash to the wall, so I was a little worried about a pass past the wall, but I called to a defender to mark it, then set, and it just came over right as I expected if they were shooting near post. I reached over and made the save.”
On the other end, senior Max Kimble was equally impressive in the Edward Little net, making six saves in a pressure-packed matchup.
“It’s a lot of pressure; one mistake can cost us a game,” Kimble said. “I was lucky that I didn’t make many mistakes today.”
Kimble noted that reading the ball’s bounces was challenging due to dewy turf causing strange bounces and extra skips. He also acknowledged the importance of corners, recalling that Lewiston’s only goal in their prior 1-0 win on Sept. 20 came from a corner kick late in the game. Fortunately, he praised the strong defensive support in front of him.
“On corners, it’s my defense; they’re very good,” Kimble said. “We’re very good at getting the ball out very fast. We don’t really mess around in the middle there.”
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### Statistical Leaders
– **Lewiston:** Will Diamond-Stanic (shutout, five saves)
– **Edward Little:** Max Kimble (shutout, six saves)
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### Voices from the Field
“I think what’s interesting is I feel like we always bring out a really good game from them, not necessarily the other way around. They always try really hard, and if you look at things, one of our problems is obviously energy. They outworked us the whole time, and they beat us to every ball. It’s always really impressive, especially going back through the years, how even when they’re lower seeded than us and theoretically have less talent, they show up to play and they fight.”
— Will Diamond-Stanic, Lewiston goalie
“To be honest, I think we’ve played well against top teams. Camden, Brunswick twice, Lewiston twice, Greely; we’ve held up well against all the top teams. This is a good team, and I would have liked to have gotten some better results against some of the other teams that maybe aren’t at the top of the league. But if we were able to score a little more, I think our wins would be higher, and we wouldn’t be caught in the middle of the pack so much.”
— Max Thompson, Edward Little coach
“We’ve been on the winning end and the losing end, and soccer can be a cruel game. It’s too bad you can’t settle it on the field, but that’s just the way the game is set up. It’s wonderful when you win, and it’s not fun when you lose. These guys are good guys, we’re deep, and that’s what I like about our team. We’ll fine-tune some things tactically, and that’ll be our focus.”
— Dan Gish, Lewiston coach
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Both teams showed resilience and toughness in defense, setting the stage for an exciting postseason ahead. With the playoffs looming, the focus now shifts to fine-tuning offense while maintaining the strong defensive foundation built throughout the season.
https://www.sunjournal.com/2025/10/21/edward-little-and-lewiston-boys-soccer-battle-to-scoreless-draw/