Figure, the Eagles have already played undefeated Messalonskee twice.
On Friday against rival Brunswick, Mt. Ararat found some rhythm on the offensive end, scoring the game’s first three goals and last five tallies for a 12-5 Eastern A win, giving the Eagles a 3-2 mark with Cony set to visit Topsham tonight at 6:30 p.m.
On the other side, Brunswick dropped to 1-4 with its second straight loss and visits winless Oxford Hills today at 4 p.m.
Mt. Ararat received three goals and an assist from Carly Raymond, two goals and one helper from Sierra Gilley and three points from Katie Labbay in the win.
“It’s a rival thing, and it can be anybody’s game,” said Mt. Ararat coach Sam Chard, whose squad held a narrow 7-5 lead with 18:07 remaining before pulling away late. “Look how close it was, with a back-andforth game. I think we finally wore them down in the second half, and the passing was better in the second half.”
“We seemed more in control today,” said Brunswick coach Steph Fisher, whose Dragons were stinging from a 16-1 loss to Messalonskee on April 27. “We played so much better than we did against Messalonskee. After a team scores a couple goals, we seem to wear down a little bit, something that I have to figure out.”
Good Eagles start
Brunswick goaltender EmaLeigh Aschbrenner began the game strong, making three early saves, including a free-position shot by Raymond.
However, there was little the netminder was able to do on Alyssa Curit’s first of two goals at the 7:40 mark of the first half, with Gilley picking up an assist.
Goals by Sydni Clark and Rebecca Schuman staked the Eagles to a 3-0 lead with 13:15 remaining until halftime, and the Mt. Ararat defense of Libby Davis, Kristi Willey and Sonja Robert kept the Dragons from generating many solid chances on Eagles goaltender Bailey Sullivan.
Brunswick finally cracked the scoreboard with 3:09 left on the clock as Eliza Brooks beat Sullivan. The teams traded two goals each over the next 1:51, with Raymond (assisted by Labbay) and Labbay scoring for Mt. Ararat, and Brooks (Savanna Kay) and Libby Arford (Lillian Kjellman) potting one goal each for Brunswick.
The back-and-forth play continued in the early stages of the second half. Curit (Labbay) and Gilley each scored for Mt. Ararat, while Brooks and Kay answered to make for a 7-5 contest.
Mt. Ararat took over from there, finishing with a 5-0 run and a 24-16 shots advantage. Raymond, Gilley, Erin Tome, Raymond again and Robert completed the scoring and the 12-5 Eagles victory.
“We have good skilled, fast players, and that is part of our offense,” said Chard. “We will see teams again. Everybody got fired up today, and it was a good, clean game.”
“We had to stay calm, knowing that coming into this game that we could do this,” said Labbay. “We have to get our confidence back, and I think we did today. We have to get that good chemistry going and just believe.”
For Brunswick, Fisher is hoping upcoming games with Oxford Hills, Gardiner (Saturday) and Lewiston (May 13) will get the Dragons pointed in the right direction.
“I am hoping to work on some crease rolls against Oxford Hills, and hopefully we can get better on that after Mt. Ararat killed us on those today,” said Fisher.
Aschbrenner had eight saves for Brunswick, while Sullivan turned aside five Brunswick shots.
Mt. Ararat 12,
Brunswick 5
At Brunswick High School
Mt. Ararat — 5 7 — 12
Brunswick — 3 2 — 5
Goals — (MA) Alyssa Curit 2, Sierra Gilley 2,
Sydni Clark, Rebecca Schuman, Carly Raymond
3, Katie Labbay, Erin Tome, Sonja Robert; (B)
Eliza Brooks 3, Savanna Kay, Libby Arford.
Assists — (MA) Katie Labbay 2, Carly Raymond,
Sierra Gilley; (B) Lillian Kjellman, Savanna Kay.
Shots — Mt. Ararat, 24-16.
Saves — (MA) Bailey Sullivan 5, Eleanor Skinner
0; (B) EmaLeigh Aschbrenner 8.
Draw controls — Brunswick, 10-9.
Records — Mt. Ararat 3-2, Brunswick 1-4.
Next — The Eagles host Cony tonight at 6:30
p.m., while the Dragons visit Oxford Hills today at
4 p.m.
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