BRUNSWICK — Annie Kelly scored three goals, and Dakota Foster had a goal and four assists during a 6-0 Brunswick run as the Dragons took the lead for good and held off Mt. Ararat 10-9 in regular season-ending Class A girls’ lacrosse game Tuesday.

The game was especially important for Brunswick, which came into the game ranked No. 2 in Eastern A and looked to move into the top spot with a win but could have dropped to third with a loss.

The Dragons (12-3) won the earlier rivalry game 13-6 but found the going tougher this time, as the Eagles clamped down and led 3-2 late in the first half on two goals by Heather Bolduc.

“We did a good job of denying them in front,” said Ararat Coach Sam Chard. “We’ve been working hard on defense the last few weeks; the last time we played them man-to-man, and we switched to a zone. We were a different team.”

But with 5:59 to go, Foster from behind the net fed Kelly in front, and she bounced a shot past goalie Anna Bruning to tie it. A pretty transition goal from Liz Faulkner to Foster to Corinne O’Connor put Brunswick on top, and Foster ripped a shot just under the crossbar with 23 seconds left to make it 5-3 at the break.

“We started to get into a flow,” said Kelly, who scored twice in the first three minutes of the second half, one on a feed from Foster, to keep the momentum going. “Sometimes we can be too timid, but we started to go to the net, and it worked.”

After Kelly’s goals, Foster set up Susannah Smith in front to make it 8-3 before Haley Michaud and Foster traded goals for a 9-4 score.

O’Connor answered goals by Bolduc and Cat Johnson to give the Dragons a 10-6 lead with 6:34 left, but Mt. Ararat (7-5) charged back with three unassisted scores in a two-minute span to put a scare in the home side.

“When you get behind against a good team, it’s easy to let that get to you,” said Chard. “But the kids have a lot of heart, and they made it a game.”

Sonja Robert netted a backhander while crossing in front, Callie Kirk came from behind the net for another backhanded score, and a long solo score by Hannah Hauser made it a one-goal game with 4:40 to go.

That prompted a Brunswick timeout, and Brunswick Coach Beth Caputi said, “The girls said they did not want to go into a stall; they wanted to keep looking for opportunities.

“It was a pride thing — really gutsy.”

With the Eagles threatening to tie it, Olivia Robbins came up with a key takeaway and the Dragons kept possession for most of the final moments.

“It’s always a little frightening when the game gets close like that, especially in a rivalry game,” Robbins said. “But we kept working as a unit, played our positions and kept our feet moving.”