BRUNSWICK

The Mt. Ararat High School girls lacrosse team had just come off a pair of victories heading into Friday’s game with Brunswick, while the Dragons were on a two-game skid themselves.

None of that mattered in the latest “Battle of the Bridge” match between the two rivals. It took extra time to decide the winner, and just 22-seconds into the second overtime, as Amanda Cloutier found the back of the net with an unassisted tally to lift the Dragons to a 6-5 victory in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference clash.

“That was a well-played game, these girls pick it up a notch when they face their rivals,” Brunswick coach Brittany Vogt said after the win. “It’s very exciting to beat your rivals. We played Morse earlier this week too, so you even see it in practice as it gets a little intense, you know they want to win.”

In the evenly-played contest, both teams used solid passing to move the ball and tight defense to help their goalies.

“We played good,” Mt. Ararat coach Chad Kirk said. “We’re all right, that little two-game win streak we had put us in a position to still play for something, that’s all I can ask. It may have taken us a little longer to get here, but we’re playing better.”

It didn’t take long for Mt. Ararat to register the first goal. About a minute into the game, Olivia Palmer found Jessica Cloutier for the quick score.

Each team traded possessions, putting shots on net, but were turned away by the goaltenders. Brunswick’s Mikeala Aschbrenner stopped a pair of Shannon Harty tries, while Casi Perow kept the Dragons off the board with some nifty saves of her own.

The Dragons were able to break through at the 18:52 mark following a defensive steal by Holly Black, who turned the ball up field to Tessa Alexander, where she passed it to Colleen McKearney. The senior carried the ball into the circle and beat Perow for score.

Six-and-a-half minutes later, the Eagles retook the lead after Palmer assisted Zoe McNally for the goal, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Again, each squad displayed tough defense, keeping both teams off the scoreboard for the final 12 minutes for a 2-1 halftime score.

“Our defense works hard at stopping the other teams,” Black said. “We use a lot of communication back there and try to eliminate any cuts.”

“We switched up our defense a little this season as we kind of switched to a zone,” Vogt said. “We did that to help a little more in front of the net. We know we’re better when we play team defense, so we stress that to them a lot.”

Despite being outshot 10-8, the Eagles controlled the draws, 3-1, after 25 minutes of play. Perow made five saves in net for Mt. Ararat, while Aschbrenner turned away six for Brunswick.

Second half

Once again, a team opened up the half racing down field, setting up their offense and successfully putting a shot on net. Brunswick senior Emily Coffin raced towards the net and pushed one across to tie the score, less than a minute into the half. The Eagles matched the goal a minute later when Jessica Cloutier scored her second goal of the game, an unassisted tally at 23:09.

Brunswick’s Rian Sachs tied the game with an unassisted goal at 19:36, but again, the Eagles answered shortly after with an Erin Harty goal to put them ahead, 4-3.

The teams once again traded possessions, each coming up empty-handed, while the ball changed sides numerous times. But with 10:08 remaining, the Eagles took a two-goal lead when Jessica Cloutier’s third goal of the contest beat Aschbrenner for the score.

Mt. Ararat won the ensuing draw control, but a defensive effort by Black and Anna Nadeau got the ball back for the Dragons. Beth Labbe took the ball and sprinted up the field towards the Mt. Ararat net, where she ripped a shot past Perow for the goal.

A couple of minutes later, the junior scored another goal, tying the game, 5-5, with 7:24 remaining in regulation.

Mt. Ararat controlled the ball in the final minutes of regulation, using sharp passes up top from Fiona Hoang and Shannon Harty. Jessica Cloutier and McNally each had shots at the net with under a minute remaining, but both were off the mark and wide.

Jessica Cloutier had another chance with six seconds left, but Aschbrenner came up with the stop to send the game into overtime.

In the first three-minute overtime, Brunswick won the draw and was able to put a couple of shots towards the net, including efforts from Lila Solberg and McKearney, but both shots were off net, sending the game into a second overtime.

The Eagles won the draw, but another turnover caused by the Brunswick defense sent the ball the other way. Following a whistle on a Mt. Ararat infraction, Amanda Cloutier was able to shoot after taking two steps and beat Perow for the game-winner.

“It’s exciting to beat our rivals,” Vogt said with a smile. “This win helps out with making the playoffs and only boosts our confidence.”

The 4-7 Dragons currently sit in sixth place in the Class B Heal Points and host Oceanside (6 p.m.) tonight. Ten teams make the postseason tournament.

The Eagles (2-9) travel to Auburn today (4 p.m.) to take on Edward Little (4-7). It appears the Eagles first need to take care of business against EL, but may also need some help in order to get a postseason berth.

“We have to take care of business against EL if we want to make it,” said Kirk. “They’ll be worth some points, but we need to come ready to play.”

“It’s disappointing to lose to our rivals, but this game showed our character,” Mt. Ararat senior Hoang said. “It was a ‘fight’ right from the beginning.”