TOPSHAM – Brunswick scored the game’s final three goals, Dakota Foster netting the eventual winner, as the Dragons rallied for a 3-1 win over rival Mt. Ararat in a KVAC Class A girls’ soccer match Saturday.

The first half ended with the teams tied at 1 and Brunswick holding a slim 6-5 advantage in shots. But Brunswick took over in the second half, outshooting the Eagles 13-0 and scoring twice.

“We put two strikers up front,” said Brunswick Coach Martyn Davison, “and that made the difference. But I was happy with the way we played before that. We passed the ball well, we just didn’t finish.

At intermission, Davison said, “We told the girls on goal kicks to get in front of the defenders,” and the strategy paid dividends when Foster outfought three Eagles to win a goal kick, then drilled a shot into the far left corner from 25 yards out.

“Becky (Champagne) and I were the strikers for the second half,” Foster said of the change, “and the wings pushed the ball up for us to attack. We knew this would be a tough game.”

Anna Cowan sent a bid just over the net before Paige Tetu added an insurance tally with 21:40 left.

A closely covered Foster blasted a shot from the penalty spot that goalie Hanna Hauser stopped. The force of the save carried the rebound out some 30 yards, where Tetu sent it in just under the crossbar.

The Dragons (3-0) continued to press, but Hauser kept them off the board with a pair of saves off both Tetu and Cowan and one off Laura Pavitt.

“Our defense made some mistakes,” said Mt. Ararat Coach Sam Chard, “and they made us pay. They’re a very good team. They can play, can pass, can shoot. Hannah did a good job, especially for just her second game in net.

“Speed is our strength, and we didn’t play to it,” he said. “We put no pressure on their defense. But give Brunswick credit. They did a real good job.”

The Eagles (1-1) scored first when Sydni Clark fed a charging Maddison Prescott. Keeper Lauren Thacker stopped Prescott’s initial point-blank bid, but Prescott collared the rebound and knocked it in for the lead at 13:09.

“We didn’t do our normal thing on their goal,” said Davison. “We had a lack of communication. But give them credit for taking advantage.”

Brunswick tied it at 20:39 when Cowan, in the middle, passed to Champagne in the left corner, and Champagne lifted a 20-yarder that went off the hands of a leaping Hauser and into the far side.

“I was proud of the girls from start to finish,” Davison said. “It showed character to come from behind, and we haven’t always done that.”

 

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