BRUNSWICK – Portland used strong passing and consistent play throughout to set down the Brunswick Dragons, 12-2 in girls high school lacrosse action on Wednesday evening.

Annika More tallied five goals and dished out a pair of assists to lead to the Bulldogs (3-2), while Isabella More added two goals and an assist in the win. 

Brunswick received a pair of goals from Emily Cloutier, one off an Amanda Cloutier helper. 

The Dragons fell to an even 2-2 mark after victories over Cony (10-5) and Gardiner (9-2) to open the season before its first setback on Monday to Lewiston (13-2). The Dragons are scheduled to host Scarborough on Friday at 6 p.m.

Besides the Mores, Hazel Praught, Chloe Kilbride, Elena Clifford, Lydia Stein and Chelsea Dana each found the back of the net for the Bulldogs.

“We like to spread the ball around and I think that’s an advantage,” Portland coach Beth Broderick said. “We’re not known as one of the ‘best’ teams in the state, but we’re looking to grow and improve by spreading the ball around and increase the likelihood the threat is going to work out for us.”

Portland wasted no time putting pressure on the Dragons. After winning the opening draw, the Bulldogs used crisp passes, looking for the open shot when Praught recorded the first of her two assists as she found Stein for the opening goal.

Brunswick won the ensuing draw, but the Portland defense denied the Dragons throughout the opening half. The tight defense prevented the hosts from putting together anything offensively as Brunswick was unable to fire any shots on net for nearly 15 minutes to open the game.

Meanwhile, Portland netted the next four goals, including three consecutive scores from Annika More to extend its lead to 5-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the half. 

Emily Cloutier put Brunswick’s first shot on net, beating Portland keeper Simira Doiran for the score off an assist from Amanda Cloutier at the six-minute mark, but Isabella More answered for Portland to carry a 6-1 lead into the halftime break.

Despite being outshot 12-2, and trailing by five goals at the break, Brunswick coach Brittany Vogt felt her squad was making strides.

“Our transitions were so much better than it has been,” Vogt said. “They were really poised and noticed when they were double-teamed, passing back and feeling comfortable about it — I’m very proud of that.”

With limited outdoor practices because of wet conditions, the Dragons are still looking for their identity. 

“We’ve only had like four practices outside, and only two of them with lined fields, so I’m really impressed how our team has developed, taking into account that we’ve been in the gym for most of the season,” Brunswick goalie Mikaela Aschbrenner said.

Senior captain Rian Sachs felt the same.

“We’ve had a lot of time in the gym for practices, and just getting out on the field with lines has been a tremendous helpful thing for us,” Rian Sachs said. “The lines for a girls field is like the crease, the eight, the 12 and then the restraining lines obviously, so you know where you are and positioned correctly.

“Today was such a better game than we’ve had with our transitions and looking for passes. Even though it wasn’t the result we wanted, we definitely saw ourselves progressing forward.”

Aschbrenner turned away six of the 12 shots she faced. Doiran made one save on two shots for the Bulldogs.

Second half

Portland hit the back of the net three times in the first two minutes of the second half to grab a 9-1 lead, prompting a Brunswick timeout.

Following the timeout, the visitors kept the pressure on Brunswick, denying any shot attempts on goal, picking up loose balls and continuing to pepper Aschbrenner with shots. The senior keeper turned away six more shots in the second half.

“She was phenomenal, she motivates her defense and sees the field, which is great,” Vogt said. “She knows what’s going on and knows her surroundings and lets everyone know as she communicates very well with the defense. She’s a leader and her teammates look up to her, and when she talks, they listen to her.”

Aschbrenner also sees the cohesiveness between herself and her defense and again credits being outside has helped them.

“I talk to my defense like they’re my family,” the senior keeper said. “We’re very close knit, giving each other feedback and letting each other know where they are. We’ve been working on spreading it out, keeping our transition wide since we haven’t been able to work on that in the gym.”

With less than three minutes remaining, Brunswick put together a few good passes and Emily Cloutier once again beat Doiran for a Dragons goal.

“This team is such a group of hard workers as you can see on the field, they really fight until the end. Which is everything you want from a team — hard working, positive attitudes and working until the end of the game,” Vogt said. “Again, it may not be the result on the scoreboard they wanted, but they continue to improve.”

Doiran finished with just three saves on five Brunswick shots, but the Portland coach noticed her consistent play, despite the lack of numbers in the scorebook.

“Simira is a sophomore and this is her first year in goal and we’ve been really impressed that she’s stepping up,” Broderick said. “She did things you don’t necessarily see in the stat sheet. She did some things I’m really proud of like coming out to the behind and moving the ball, things normally expected from a goalie that has done it for a few years. Our defense and goalie are starting to work as unit.”

 

 

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