Morse’s Sadia Crosby won the opening draw control and watched teammate Christina Stuart sprint downfield, dodge around the Brunswick goal and send a shot off the near post just 10 seconds into Monday’s contest at McMann Field.

With 10 seconds remaining of an 18-3 girls high school lacrosse loss to the rival Dragons, the Shipbuilders had a similar fate, again with a shot bouncing off the post.

“Something like that really makes you focus more and get right into it,” said Brunswick defender Katie Swan of the early Morse pressure.

The Dragons focused well from there, scoring the game’s first six goals while improving to 5-0, with a visit to Camden Hills slated for today before a big road contest at unbeaten Cony on Friday.

“They were definitely the better team, but we’re better than what we showed,” said Morse coach Linda Levesque, whose team dropped to 1-3 and is slated to host Edward Little today at 4 p.m.

The Shipbuilders have certainly faced a tough early schedule, taking on Cony, oneloss Messalonskee and the Dragons.

“We will learn from this. We have a competitive schedule this year, and it will make us better,” said Levesque, who was pleased with the way her team kept working. “The girls fought to the end, which is tough when the score is like that.”

“Morse is going to compete, and we appreciate that they put up a contest no matter what the score is,” said Brunswick coach Beth Caputi. “They are going to make our girls work. They were putting pressure on us, and not allowing us to make a clean pass.”

Brunswick gets going

After Stuart’s post shot, Brunswick took control. Annie Kelly scored off a nice pass from Suzannah Smith, and Dakota Foster doubled the advantage 30 seconds later after another setup from Smith.

Goals by Kelly (two), Smith and Foster made it a 6-0 contest with 13:39 left until halftime.

“We were missing some of our starters, so the plan was to pressure the midfield and put on high pressure,” said Swan, who caused five turnovers and picked up two groundballs in the first half. “We’re getting into the groove now, and seem to be working well together.”

“Katie had one of her better all-around games,” said Caputi.

Tori Field put Morse on the board, but the Dragons ran off five unanswered tallies to close the first half for an 11-1 lead. Kelly had five of the goals and one assist, while Foster added four goals and Smith one goal and two assists.

One bright spot for Morse was midfielder Crosby, who

“We worked hard and just tried to keep the motivation up,” said Crosby.

“We just couldn’t maintain possession, and that makes a difference in this game,” added Levesque, who received a goal from Shannon Rice early in the second half. “We weren’t as patience on offense as I would like to see us, but we realize we have to move the ball quickly to have success.”

Brunswick closed the contest on a 7-1 run. Kelly (seven goals, one assist), Foster (6-2) and Smith (3-3) combined on 16 goals and six assists, with Grace Rabinowitz and Eliza Brooks chipping in one goal each, while Jen Machin, Lillian Kjellman and Courtney Roderick added an assist each.

Crosby closed the scoring, with Aysia McCloud earning an assist.

In goal, Dragons netminder Molly Herman made eight saves, including two on Morse free-position opportunities, while Crystal Leavitt had five stops in the Shipbuilders’ net.

Brunswick 18,
Morse 3

Brunswick — 11 7 — 18
Morse — 1 2 — 3
Goals — (B) Annie Kelly 7, Suzannah
Smith 3, Dakota Foster 6, Grace Rabinowitz, Eliza Brooks; (Mo) Tori Field,
Shannon Rice, Sadia Crosby.
Assists — (B) Suzannah Smith 3, Dakota
Foster 2, Kelly, Jen Machin, Lillian Kjellman, Courtner Roderick.
Shots — Brunswick 23-11.
Saves — (B) Molly Herman 8; (Mo) Crystal Leavitt 5.
Draw controls — Brunswick 13-10.
Records — Brunswick 5-0, Morse 1-3.
Next — Both teams are scheduled to be
in action today (weather permitting), with
the Dragons visiting Camden Hills and the
Shipbuilders hosting Edward Little at 4
p.m.