When the Lewiston High School Blue Devils boys’ soccer team won a state championship, they brought joy to a community that was rocked by a mass shooting in late October.
Russ Dillingham /Sun Journal via AP
Last month, police used the high school parking lot in Lewiston, Maine, as a staging area in the manhunt for a mass murderer. Today, Lewiston High School is celebrating a state championship, after its boys’ soccer team won a nail-biter in overtime, 3-2, over the weekend.
“We just wanted to give back to the city with all they have gone through,” the Lewiston Blue Devils’ Tegra Mbele told the Sun Journal newspaper.
As goalie Payson Goyette put it, “We have been saying the past few weeks, ‘Do it for the city.’ ”
The city is grateful: Lewiston thanked the team for bringing “great joy to our hearts” on its Facebook page.
A late goal settles an intense title matchup
Mbele scored the first goal of the game, but it was his breakaway goal with just a bit over a minute left in overtime that sent the crowd into euphoria. The score sealed a back-and-forth showdown with Deering High School in the Class A state championship.
The Blue Devils threaded a nicely weighted pass through Deering’s central defense — and when Mbele caught up to it on the right side, he calmly flipped the ball past the Rams’ sliding goalie and inside the far post for the win.
Following tradition, the Lewiston squad celebrated their win by gathering together on the field, before rushing at their fans in the stands for embraces and high-fives.
“What a journey that will never be forgotten,” coach Dan Gish said on Monday via X, formerly Twitter.
The emotional win came just 17 days after Lewiston was gripped by horror,…
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