BRUNSWICK — When the Brunswick High School boys soccer teams worked on drills and scrimmages during practices this season, the “golden goal” was the goal that ended that particular portion of practice.

On Saturday, Brunswick received the “golden goal” off the head of Josh Musica as the Dragons advanced to the Class A North Regional Final with a 1-0 double overtime semifinal victory over Camden Hills.

“We call the winning goal the ‘golden goal’ and Josh gave us that today,” Brunswick coach Mark Roma said. “I couldn’t be more happier for him.”

It took all the way to the 107th minute for the ball to find the back of the net, a pass set up perfectly by Sebastian Matheus-Miguel before finding Musica’s noggin.

“That goal was set up by Sebastian. We talked in the second half that Camden did such a great job defending in the middle that the space was going to be on the wings,” Roma said as the Dragons improved to 14-1-1 and will face No. 1 Lewiston on Tuesday afternoon at McMann Field in Bath at 4 p.m. “Before overtime, we talked about the crosses and said they were a little high, that they need to be lower in the box. Sebastian put a great ball in there for Josh.”

While the play happened quickly, it almost seemed like it all transpired in slow motion for Musica, making the goal seem effortless.

“I knew (Sebastian) was in the corner and they brought three or four guys over there, leaving me in the middle,” Musica said. “He put it right to my head and it was pretty easy to finish.”

After a scoreless first half, where Camden did not have a shot on goal and the Dragons only managed three, both teams came out harder in the second half, applying a bit more pressure on the opposing defenses. It’s not like Brunswick didn’t have its chances to score in the second half, putting eight shots on goal in the final 40 minutes of regulation, but each were stuffed by Windjammers’ goalie Casey Messer to keep the game scoreless.

“Their goalie did a great job out there today, we made some great shots on him and he came up big,” Roma said. “Ryan (Hurley) is a good coach and he had them ready today.”

With 29 minutes remaining, Brunswick’s David Nzuzi thread the needle with a pass through two Camden Hills defenders to find Matheus-Miguel, but the latter’s shot off his left foot was turned away by Messer. Moments later, a Brunswick shot hit the left post and the Dragons were denied a goal again.

At 11:51, Camden Hills was called for an infraction in the box, with the referees awarding a penalty kick to Brunswick. Lane Foushee’s attempt was stopped by Messer and the game remained scoreless.

In all, Messer turned away eight second-half shots, a total of 11 for the game for the Windjammers, leading them into overtime.

At the end of regulation, Brunswick goalie Jack McDiarmid (two saves) fell ill and was unable to continue, vaulting freshman Brady Laforge into action.

“Brady has played some varsity minutes for us this year. Not a lot, but he works his tail off in practice and I had full confidence in bringing him in,” Roma said.

As was the case throughout most of the contest, the Brunswick defense of Coenradt Taylor, Alec Hess and Luke Cheseldine made goaltending for Laforge much easier, not allowing a Windjammer shot in the extra frames.

“Luke is one of the best defenders in the state,” Roma said of Cheseldine. “He played up top for us last year, but we talked at the beginning of the season that we graduated a few players from the back and he dropped back and stepped it up for us this year.”

Messer finished with 11 saves for Camden Hills, which finished the season at 11-5, as Brunswick outshot the visitors, 14-2, and held the advantage in corner kicks, 6-2.

No. 2 Brunswick 1, No. 3. Camden Hills 0, 2 OT

Class A North Boys Soccer Quarterfinal

At Brunswick

Camden Hills — 0 0 0 0 — 0

Brunswick — 0 0 0 1 — 1

Goal — (B) Josh Musica.

Assist — Sebastian Matheus-Miguel.

Shots — Brunswick 14, Camden Hills 2.

Saves — (CH) Casey Messer 11; (B) Jack McDiarmid 2, Brady Laforge 0.

Corner kicks — Brunswick 6, Camden Hills 2.

Records — Brunswick 14-1-1, Camden Hills 11-5.

Up next for the Dragons — Class A North Regional final against Lewiston on Tuesday at McMann Field in Bath, 4 p.m.

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