PORTLAND

Making its fifth consecutive trip to a boys lacrosse state title game, it seems like business as usual for the Brunswick High School squad. Playing extra time does too.

For the second straight year (and game), Brunswick scored a goal in overtime to capture the crown, winning 14-13 over Greely on Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium. It’s the school’s fourth state championship, first in B.

The Dragons, who beat Yarmouth in overtime in the semifinals on a Max Gramins goal, once again benefited from the senior’s timely shooting. After Andrew Eno stripped the ball from Greely goalie Sawyer Gagnon, Eno dished it off to Gramins for the game-winner.

Gramins never saw the shot go in as he was cross-checked as he let the ball fly.

“Eno had a great strip on him and got the GB (ground ball),” Gramins said. “I thought he was going to the net and then a defender slid up and passed me the ball. I didn’t have time to think about it and let it fly. I got hit as I shot and went down. I stayed down on the ground because I knew I scored.”

And once again, as they did in the 14-13 semifinal overtime win on Wednesday, Gramins teammates piled on top of him to celebrate the winning goal.

“Andrew was on the back side of the goalie, he came up, stripped it and picked it up,” Brunswick coach Don Glover said of the final play. “Great IQ right there where he didn’t take the shot, he allowed the defender to slide and open up Max for the shot.”

“It feels amazing, unbelievable,” a smiling Eno said. “My man passed it to the goalie, I saw another man on him, so I decided to rush the goalie. I thought he was going to go wide, but he made a move on him. As soon as I saw the stick go, I went down on his and stripped it. I could’ve taken the shot, but I saw Max coming, so I gave it to him and he took it.”

Regular season rewind

Just like in the team’s first meeting back on May 11 in Brunswick, it was a game of two halves as the defending Class A champions came out swinging in the early slugfest.

Jack McDiarmid took an Aiden Glover pass and blasted it past Gagnon less than a minute into the contest for a quick 1-0 Dragon lead. Gramins followed a few minutes later with a tally before Greely’s Tim Coyle put the Rangers on the board.

Aiden Glover and Schuyler Wetmore traded goals before Eno and Aiden Glover pushed a pair across for a 5-2 Brunswick lead with under three minutes remaining in the quarter. After another Wetmore goal for Greely, Brunswick added two more goals, including another McDiarmid tally with less than a second remaining for a 7-3 Brunswick lead after 12 minutes of play.

The second-seeded Dragons (12-3) scored on their first six shots of the game, outshooting the Rangers, 8-7, in the opening quarter. The two teams were fairly even in faceoffs, with Greely grabbing seven to Brunswick’s six.

“We knew we started cold all year,” Greely Coach Mike Storey said. “It takes a while for Sawyer to get warmed up in goal, so we weren’t nervous. We knew once we got our defensive communication and got Sawyer warmed up, we were good.”

Greely opened the second quarter with a pair of goals. Devlin O’Keefe scored off a pass from Andrew Lawrence, then returned the favor, feeding Lawrence, cutting the Brunswick lead to 7- 5 a little over four minutes into the second quarter.

Aiden Glover answered with the next two goals to push the lead back to four, 9- 5. Gramins tacked on his second goal of the half, an unassisted tally at 1:59.

Greely bounced back and found the back of the net with 4.8 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 10-6 at the break.

Second half

Coming out of the halftime break, Greely (11-4) turned on the pressure, shooting shot after shot towards the Brunswick net. Some shots missed, some were stopped by Brunswick goalie Connor Pendergast, and some found their way to the back of the net. The top-seeded Rangers scored the first four goals of the second half to tie the score at 10-10 just over midway through the third quarter.

“My hats off to Greely, they have exceptional athletes and are well coached,” Don Glover said. “ They dominated on the faceoffs, but we tactically countered.”

Greely dominated the opening minutes of the third quarter, with Jackson Williams winning all seven faceoffs in the third frame.

“He’s exceptional,” Don Glover said. “We knew this was going to be a possession battle.”

In fact, Brunswick did not gain possession of the ball until 4: 35 left. With what appeared to be the go-ahead goal with 4:17 left, Brunswick’s goal was called off for a “too many men” penalty, keeping the game tied. Taking their first official shot of the half at 2:35, the Dragons re-claimed the lead, 11-10, with a Nate Girardin score, his second of the game. Wetmore tied the game, scoring on an unassisted blast, closing out the quarter with the teams deadlocked, 11-11.

The Rangers had 20 shots in the frame, scoring five goals, while Pendergast turned away four of his 22 saves Brunswick managed just two shots in the quarter.

A month ago, Greely rallied from a six-goal halftime hole to beat host Brunswick in overtime, 15-14. On Saturday, the feeling was still sitting in the back of the minds of the Dragons.

“We weren’t about to let it happen again,” junior captain Aiden Glover said. “Losing at home to them wasn’t good, so we wanted to put them away today.”

Each team continued to slug it out in the final quarter of regulation. Greely grabbed its first lead of the game when Devlin O’Keefe found the back of the net off a helper from Wetmore at 10:57.

But Aiden Glover’s fifth goal of the game a couple of minutes later tied the score. Andrew Lawrence pushed the Rangers back on top with six minutes left, but the never quit Dragons once again tied the score when Eno came around from the back of the net to tie it with 3:43 remaining in regulation.

Each team had chances to score in the final minutes, but neither pushed one across. Gagnon made a save on an Aiden Glover shot with 1: 25 left, and Pendergast came up big, making six saves in the final quarter, including one in transition with a minute remaining.

“It went off my leg and dropped to the ground,” Pendergast said. “ It was rolling at that point, so I took a knee and just clamped on top of it. They were just coming into the top of the box. Somebody else was with me, it wasn’t just me.”

“Tactically, he’s exceptional. His composure is also exceptional,” Coach Glover said. “ He’s mastered the ‘you’ve scored on me, OK’ and he moves on. He make the saves you should, and steals a few others. He’s a kid that the ‘ steal a few’ column is a little more fuller.”

Despite outshooting Brunswick and winning the faceoffs decidedly in the second half, Greely was unable to push across the go-ahead goal in regulation, sending the game into a four- minute overtime.

Brunswick won the faceoff, just its second of the half, to open overtime. Immediately the Brunswick coach called a timeout and scripted up a play.

After a tipped pass, Greely gained possession, calling a timeout to draw up something. Out of the timeout, Greely managed a pair of shots, and once again Pendergast came up big, turning the shots away to preserve the tie.

Back at the other end, Brunswick again turned the ball over, but this time, Eno stayed back to defend. From there, history was made, and Brunswick won a state championship for the third time in four years.

“It’s awesome. Last year was phenomenal, so we worked hard this year to get back,” Aiden Glover said. “ We wanted to get here, which is great, but to come out on top, it’s even better, to win it with my brothers.”

For Pendergast, this win was just as sweet as last year’s.

“Oh, I mean, it’s crazy. It feels amazing going back-to-back. Last year was fairly new to me,” the goalie said. “The support of my defense and the sidelines was phenomenal.”

Now that the Dragons are playing in a class set to their enrollment, Don Glover looks forward to more great games in the competitive Class B field.

“ People asked why we were going to B? This is why we wanted to play B,” Coach Glover said. “There are great teams all around in this class.”

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