Morse girls lacrosse speeds past Brunswick

Morse midfielder Zoe Nicholson tries to run by Brunswick attacker Eva Kousky in Tuesday's 18-11 win.

BATH — Neither Jess Avery nor Linda Levesque were sure when the Morse girls lacrosse team last defeated Brunswick, but after an 18-11 victory Tuesday, neither Morse coach could stop smiling.

“Our goal all season has been, can we be a four-quarter team? We were a four-quarter team today,” Jess Avery said.

Senior midfielder Zoe Avery scored a career-high seven goals, and junior midfielder Zoe Nicholson added four for Morse (8-4). Five others joined in the goal scoring as the Class C Shipbuilders earned their sixth win of the season against a Class A or Class B opponent.

Junior midfielder Solveig Ledwick paced Brunswick (5-7) with four goal. Sophomore midfielder Layla Hammer put in three.

How it happened

• Brunswick opened the game with goals from Madison Neault and Ledwick, keeping play on the visitors’ attacking third and maintaining control of most ground balls. At 5:21 in the first quarter, Zoe Avery gave Morse its first goal off an assist from Evan Jones. The Shipbuilders won the next two draw controls, and Sophie Prager found Avery for two more goals in a span of 42 seconds.

• Layla Hammer and Eva Kousky regained the lead for the visitors, but Morse’s dominance in the draw circle allowed the home team to take control. Nicholson, Avery and Riley Walters scored within 31 seconds of one another as the Shipbuilders ended the first quarter with a 6-4 lead.

“We’ve been working the draw,” Jess Avery said. “The games we have lost, we have not been in control of the draw. There’s been other things, obviously, but that’s been a real focus for us. And we’ve had five, six, seven kids scoring each game, and so they share the ball really well.”

• In the second and third quarters, Morse had four other instances of winning the draw control, racing down field and immediately scoring. The Shipbuilders led 12-5 at halftime and 17-8 after the third quarter. Zoe Avery scored her seventh goal off a free position with 57.8 seconds left in the third.

• An early fourth-quarter goal from Jones extended Morse’s lead to 10, but Brunswick punched back as Ledwick, Hammer and Kyra Fortier rattled off three straight goals. The Dragons had multiple opportunities to close the gap further, but junior goalie Irelyn Lathan made five saves for Morse in the final quarter.

Statistical leaders

• Morse: Zoe Avery (seven goals, assist), Zoe Nicholson (four goals), Micah Wolf (three goals), Sophie Prager (goal, three assists), Irelyn Lathan (14 saves)

• Brunswick: Solveig Ledwick (four goals), Layla Hammer (three goals), Maddy Lavigne (three saves)

Notable quotes

• “Speed kills, doesn’t it? No. 1 (Nicholson), No. 7 (Avery), just quick.” — Morse coach Linda Levesque

• “I think we saw the field really well today. I got many assists from people that don’t usually assist me, and I think that was wonderful,” — Morse midfielder Zoe Avery