TOPSHAM — Five shots, five goals.

That is the way the Brunswick High School boys lacrosse team started Wednesday’s Eastern Maine Class A boys lacrosse showdown with “Battle of the Bridge” rival Mt. Ararat on a cool, foggy night.

From there, the going got tough — actually much tougher — against Eagles netminder Ed Maguire, who turned away 13 of the final 16 shots on his cage.

However, his Dragons counterpart, Theron Wilgus, was just as good as Brunswick came away with a hardfought 8-6 victory.

The win gives Brunswick a 9-0 mark, while Mt. Ararat showed remarkable improvement after an early-season 13-7 loss to its rivals, falling to 6-2, with a key road contest against Lewiston slated for noon on Saturday.

“It was a great start to the game, with the kids having great composure while Mt. Ararat played a zone against us,” said Brunswick coach Don Glover, whose Dragons take on Oxford Hills on Monday at home (6:30 p.m.).

Two goals by Tom Purinton and Seth Holmblad, and one from Alex Croatti gave Brunswick a 5-1 lead with 5:48 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the Mt. Ararat sideline, backup netminder Greg Wallace began loosening up, but Eagles coach Matt Haskell stuck with his starter, who shut out the Dragons the remainder of the first half as his team battled back to forge a 5-5 deadlock at the half.

“You could see Eddie practicing after those goals, and he wanted to stay in and did a great job after the start,” said Haskell, who watched Maguire turn aside four Brunswick shots in the second quarter for five first-half saves. “After that rough start, he did a fantastic job back there, commanding the defense, and found the guys on our clears.”

“We are not a first-quarter team, but we got it back together and played well from there,” said Maguire. “Once we got into the swing of things, we came back. Last game, we didn’t make much of a comeback. Tonight, we played a great game.”

Comeback Eagles

Down by four goals late in the first quarter, Jeremy Hart gave his team a boost when he picked up a rebound and beat Wilgus to cut Brunswick’s lead to 5-2 after 12 minutes.

Jonathan Brown’s goal 1:29 into the second quarter made it a 5-3 contest, and back-to-back goals by Josh Richards tied the game.

“They totally dominated the second quarter,” said Glover, whose team was outshot 9-5 in the frame.

“They were hustling and doing a good job of having the fire, fighting for those groundballs,” said Wilgus, who made six first-half stops.

The face-off win by Brunswick’s Sam Fortin to open the second half set the tone for the Dragons, who received a goal each from Cam Glover and Purinton 45 seconds apart to break the tie.

Brunswick possessed the ball throughout the frame, with the Dragons firing 12 shots to Mt. Ararat’s three. Maguire made five stops to keep his team within two, but was helpless with 8:21 left in the contest when Holmblad converted a nice feed from Cam Glover on a 2-on-1 break for an 8- 5 lead.

“In the third truthfully, we wanted to possess the ball and get the groundballs,” said coach Glover. “We’re like a fast-break basketball team, make our transitions and make it as pretty as possible. But when it’s not clicking, we have to learn to step back.”

“We played Monday night, Tuesday night, and these guys played better as the game wore on, and they certainly rose to the occasion,” said Haskell, whose Eagles never quit, getting a goal from Brown with 1:30 remaining to close within two goals.

But, Wilgus made two more saves in the waning seconds to preserve the win, finishing with 10 in all.

“James stepped up awesome, and it was a game that we needed out of him,” said Glover. “He took on a dominant role in the second half, in a tie game, and came through.

“I will say that this cross-river rivalry brings out the hardest fight in these two teams, and we needed someone to give us a kick, and Mt. Ararat did that. We played with desire, something I wanted to see.”

“It was great to play against our rivals, and as seniors it might be the last time we will play in Topsham,” said Wilgus “It was a close game and a big win.”

Brunswick held a 34-24 shot advantage, while Fortin won 11 of 16 faceoffs, giving his squad the possession advantage.

Mt. Ararat was 2-for-4 with the man advantage, while the Dragons scored once on seven man-up opportunities.

Brunswick received a solid effort from defensemen Sam Bessey, Blake Bodwell and Charlie Nau, while Mt. Ararat countered with Kevin Nolan, Zach Greene, Robert Cornelison and Brett Martin.

Purinton and Holmblad both scored three goals to pace the Brunswick offense, with Chris Snyder, Winston Sullivan and Cam Glover dishing out two assists.

Nick Oram had two helpers for the Eagles, with Richards and Brown leading the Mt. Ararat goal-scorers with two each.

Brunswick 8, Mt. Ararat 6
At Mt. Ararat High School

Brunswick — 5 0 2 1 — 8
Mt.Ararat — 2 3 0 1 — 6

Goals — (B) Tom Purinton 3, Seth Holmblad 3, Alex Croatti, Cam Glover; (MA) Evan Whidden, Jeremy Hart, Jonathan Brown 2, Josh Richards 2.

Assists — (B) Cam Glover 2, Winston Sullivan 2, Chris Snyder 2, Alex Croatti, Seth Holmblad.

Shots — Brunswick, 34-24.

Saves — (B) Theron Wilgus 10; (MA) Ed Maguire 13.

Man-up opportunities — Brunswick 1-7, Mt. Ararat 2-4.

Face-off wins — Brunswick, 11-5.

Records — Brunswick 9-0, Mt. Ararat 6-2.

Next — The Eagles travel to Lewiston on Saturday at noon, while the Dragons host Oxford Hills on Monday
at 6:30 p.m.

sports@timesrecord.com