LEWISTON — New digs with a brand-new layer of green turf served as an inspiration to the new-and-improved Lewiston Blue Devils, who gave the undefeated Mt. Blue Cougars all they could handle in a field hockey game Thursday afternoon.

But the Cougars’ (3-0) second-half insurgency allowed them to steer past the pesky Blue Devils with a 5-2 victory.

Mt. Blue coach Jody Harmon saw the difference in Lewiston, which hounded her team the entire game.

“They are so fast. Huge improvement. It was good to see,” Harmon said. “We just started again passing better and passing to someone (in the second half) … and attacking the goal and getting the ball in on the cage. Just for while there, we were flat.

“Our freshman — she’s a swing player — Eva Stevens really came out and was like a spark in that front line and doing that extra, because sometimes that extra makes all the difference.”

Sophomore Keegan Andrews scored her first of two goals without assistance with 18:47 left in the first half, but Mt. Blue’s one-goal lead didn’t rattle Lewiston.

The Blue Devils came right back to tie the game when sophomore forward Emma Begin scored unassisted with 9:41 left in the first half.

“This year we are not displaced, either,” Lewiston coach Chelsea Fournier said. “Brand new turf, right. So we are all excited. We are pumped.

“So it is always different when you play at home. So I think that gave them the added edge they wanted. We had a pretty good preseason.

“Got a good group of freshmen that came in. Great group of seniors, juniors are there supporting everybody, and the sophomores are holding everybody together. So there is depth out there.”

But just before halftime, the Cougars gave themselves some breathing room. Stevens used a sophomore Rylee Keaten feed and scored her first of two goals to put the Cougars back on top, 2-1.

Mt. Blue went on a tear in the second half. Senior Ellie Pelletier fired up the Cougars’ offense when she scored unassisted, providing the Cougars with a 3-1 lead.

Andrews followed with her second goal using a Stevens’ assist at the 17:31 mark. Stevens would also follow with her second goal, with the assist going to Pelletier.

The Blue Devils punched in their second goal when Emma Hawley scored on assists from Begin and Grace Dumond.