TOPSHAM

Coming into Friday’s boys high school soccer game between Mt. Ararat and Edward Little, Eagles coach Jack Rioux understood what the Red Eddies were capable of offensively.

Scoring a total of eight goals on their way to a pair of victories, the Eagles knew limiting the EL chances was the main priority.

“That was plan,” Rioux said. “Possess the ball when we can and try not to give them any set pieces.”

The Eagles executed the gameplan, keeping EL off the scoreboard while receiving a pair of first-half goals from Mason Brigham for a 2-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win.

The Eagles improved to 2-1 on the young season, while EL (2-1) suffered its first defeat in three games.

After defeating Brunswick on Tuesday, the Red Eddies came into Friday’s game looking to make it three straight.

“We know their players, and we had a gameplan to contain Travis (Nadeau) and Max (Varela),” EL coach Tim Mains said. “Yeah, we beat Brunswick the other night 5-1, but they know they need to work. I do think we did a nice job, I don’t think we played poorly, just not well enough to win.”

Mt. Ararat attacked early and three minutes into the game, the Eagles nearly pushed one across. Playing off the first corner kick of the game, Brigham possessed the kick and drove it wide of the net. Moments later, Nadeau found Ethan Rac in front of the net, passing it through traffic, only to have Rac’s touch pop up over the net.

“Our plan is to knock it around and try to get it in line and get it in the box and get shots off,” Rioux said. “Every time we do that, we need someone there to pick up the loose balls, and today, Mason was there.”

“We work on that, getting the ball and finishing,” Brigham said. “We knew that was coming.”

The junior was correct. With under 20 minutes remaining in the half, Mt. Ararat forward Elias Theberge tapped the ball inside to Rac, who sent a shot off of EL goalie Mack Sampson. The ball bounced loose and Brigham drove in hard, with both himself and the ball hitting the back of the net for the score.

With a minute remaining in the half, Brigham once again found himself in position, picking up a Nadeau blast that Sampson did not secure, tapping it across the line for the game’s second score.

“It’s a whole team thing,” Brigham said of getting his second loose ball for the score, an important goal before the half. “It was important not to just get the first goal, but the second one as well. After you get that first goal, you get that momentum and want to keep it going.”

The Eagles took the two-goal lead into the break, outshooting EL, 8-3 in the first 40 minutes.

With a two-goal lead, Mt. Ararat was able to take advantage of the wide field, spreading the ball around in the second-half, continuing to minimize EL’s chances. Rioux credited his defense in keeping EL to only pair of shots on net in the second frame.

“We lost a couple of kids from our back line from last year, so it’s new to some of these guys, and they’re stepping up real well,” Rioux said. “They’re communicating and we just want James (Singleton) to make the simple saves and they do that.”

Mt. Ararat shut down the Red Eddies, allowing just five shots on net and possessing the ball for the majority of the game.

Rioux said he emphasized possession a lot the last couple days in practice and in pregame. Even with the result, Rioux still wants to see improvement.

“There were more throw-ins than I felt comfortable with, but they stuck to the plan today,” Rioux added.

Frustrated with the outcome, Mains knows plain and simple what happened on the field.

“First off, give the kudos to Mt. Ararat, they outworked us. Clear as day, it’s what is was,” Mains said. “They beat us to 50/50 balls, they ran through the ball where we just stuck a foot out to win it. They won everything in the air. They outplayed us, and that’s the bottom line, they were just better than us today.

Mt. Ararat travels to “Battle of the Bridge” rival Brunswick on Tuesday to take on the Dragons at 3:30 p.m.