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TOPSHAM – Robbie Small and Will Hirnak scored in the last two minutes of the first half, and Hirnak added two assists and Small one as top-seeded Mt. Ararat advanced to the Eastern Class A boys soccer title game with a 4-1 win over No. 4 Brunswick Saturday. The Eagles will host No.2 Lewiston in the regional final on Wednesday.

Neither team registered a shot in a very physical opening 20 minutes, but the Dragons’ Konnor Scarponi nearly scored 21 minutes in when he hit the far left post on a breakaway.

Small put the Eagles (14-1-1) on the board with 1:57 left in the half. Nate Santeramo sent the ball into the box where Hirnak pushed it over to Small in front of the left post, and Small headed it into the net.

“Nate dropped the ball at my feet, and my pass deflected off a defender to Robbie, and he finished it,” said Hirnak.

“He saw I was there, and I yelled ‘Skip,’ ” said Small. “I really wanted to score a goal. I think we were a little nervous, and that gave us some confidence.”

Hirnak made it 2-0 just 62 seconds later when Santeramo sent a direct kick from in front of the deep right sideline to the far post, and Hirnak converted.

“We’d been attacking the corners,” said Hirnak. “Nate crossed the ball and I got open and put it in off the post. I think that really ended the game as a contest.”

But both coaches felt it was the third goal that was decisive.

“That was the killer,” said Brunswick coach Mark Roma. “I told them I thought the team that scored the next goal would win. If we could have scored it, it would have been a whole new game.”

“A 2-0 lead is the worst in soccer,” said Ararat coach Rick Renaud. “If they score, they’d have the momentum. I told my guys we’ve got to score the next goal.”

That goal was scored by Jason Tome halfway through the second half, after a Brian Johnson throw-in from the left side. Hirnak ended up wih it on the right, and he worked the ball to the goal line before crossing to an unmarked Tome at the crease.

“We haven’t been to the regional finals since 2007,” said Renaud, “so this feels real good.”