BRUNSWICK’S Nolan Lyne, left, looks to pass the ball as Mt. Ararat’s Ryan Mello trails behind in a high school boys lacrosse game played in Topsham on Tuesday. The Dragons won, 16-3, finishing the regular season at 9-3. The Eagles finished 6-6. ERIC MAXIM / THE TIMES RECORD
BRUNSWICK
The Memorial Day weekend provided the Brunswick High School boys lacrosse team some welcomed time off. According to head coach Don Glover, “it gave us time to watch the NCAA’s (lacrosse tournament).”
The rest was helpful, as the fresh legs of the Dragons controlled play through most of the first quarter, racing out to a 5-0 lead en route to a 16-3 win over the Mt. Ararat Eagles in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference clash.
Aiden Glover led the attack with five first-half goals, totaling six for the contest. Senior Max Gramins dished out five assists while scoring a pair of goals of his own. Junior Nolan Lyne registered four goals as the Dragons had six different scorers in the contest.
“We did not practice over the weekend, it was a nice reprieve,” Don Glover said. “We wanted to come back and set our focus on what’s coming up next (State Class B tournament) and fine tune some things.”
The Dragons are 9-3 and await the final Class B Heal Points to see where they fall in the standings.
MT. ARARAT’S Connor Brown, left, defends against Brunswick’s Jacob Belanger, right, during Tuesday’s “Battle of the Bridge” in boys lacrosse. The Dragons won, 16-3. ERIC MAXIM / THE TIMES RECORD
The game was scoreless until Aiden Glover found Lyne with a pass through traffic for the score with 8: 15 remaining in the opening quarter.
“We possessed the ball for maybe a minute or two in the first quarter, which was too bad, because we came out strong,” Mt. Ararat coach Matt Haskell said. “They set the tempo of the game during the first quarter.”
From there, the Dragons went on the attack, outshooting the Eagles, 13-2, while finding the back of the net four more times in the first 12 minutes. Gramins found Aiden Glover for a tally at 5:22, before scoring a goal of his own a minute later, Tyler Nadeau connected with Nick Munn for a goal before Nate Girardin rounded out the scoring with six seconds left for the 5-0 lead.
“We wanted to come out and attack. We saw they played a tough game with Messalonskee so we knew they could play,” Gramins said. “We came out firing and controlling the ball. We were able to find our rhythm and run some plays. It’s always a good game when we play Mt. Ararat.”
The second quarter began just as good for the Dragons as it ended. After winning five of the six faceoffs in the first quarter, Brunswick controlled possession in the second. After winning the opening faceoff, Girardin raced down the field, beating Eagles goalie Dan Jackson with a shot for a goal just 31 seconds into the frame.
Continuing the attack, Aiden Glover scored two of the next three goals over a four-minute period to push the lead to 9-0. Lyne also stuck in a goal during the span.
With 12 seconds left in the half, the junior Glover scored once again, taking a pass from Gramins while cutting in front of the net.
On the ensuing faceoff, with 6.4 seconds remaining, Brunswick won the ball as Gramins picked it up, ran down field and hit Aiden Glover in stride, where the junior blasted a shot off the post and into the back of the net as the horn blew for the halftime intermission.
“We wanted to get down quick and try to score,” Gramins said.
The Dragons carried an 11-0 lead into halftime, outshooting the Eagles, 28-4 and dominating the faceoffs, 12-1.
“It’s hard to win games when you can’t win faceoffs and turn the ball over,” added Haskell.
Second half
Aiden Glover opened the half with an unassisted goal 29 seconds in to push the lead to 12-0. After winning the second faceoff of the half, Nadeau tallied an unassisted goal of his own. The Dragons tacked on two more goals (Lyne and Gramins) to take a 15-0 lead into the final quarter.
Following Gramins fifth assist on Lyne’s fourth goal, the two teams played back and forth with the Eagles getting some shots on net. With 4:20 left in the game, Cam Brown scored an unassisted goal when he beat Jeremy Vuong for the Eagles (6-6) first goal. Brown scored a minute later, beating Vuong on a shot in the lower left corner. Eli Schoenberg scored the Eagles’ final goal with 18 second left in the contest.
Brunswick outshot the Eagles, 41-12, while holding the advantage in faceoffs, 18- 5.
Jackson made 12 saves in net for the home team, while Brunswick used three goalies — Connor Pendergast (two saves), Trey Curtis (three saves) and Vuong (four saves) in the win.
“It’s tough for our seniors to lose to our rivals from over the green bridge, but we have some time before the playoffs start, so put this behind us for sure,” Haskell said.
Brunswick 16, Mt. Ararat 3
At Topsham
Brunswick—5641—16
Mt.Ararat—0003—3
Goals — (B) Aiden Glover 6, Nolan
Lyne 4, Max Gramins 2, Nate Girardin
2, Nick Munn, Tyler Nadeau; (MtA)
Cam Brown 2, Eli Schoenberg.
Assists — (B) Max Gramins 5, Aiden
Glover, Tyler Nadeau.
Shots — Brunswick 41, Mt. Ararat
12.
Saves — (B) Connor Pendergast 2,
Trey Curtis 3, Jeremy Vuong 4; (MtA)
Daniel Jackson 12.
Faceoffs — Brunswick 18; Mt. Ararat
3.
Man-up-opportunities — Brunswick
1-for-2.
Records — Brunswick 9-3; Mt.
Ararat 6-6.
Up next for the Dragons and Eagles
— State Class B tournament, TBD.
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