BRUNSWICK – Beating one of the state’s premier girls’ lacrosse teams was not easy. Then again, ending a stretch of excellence is no simple accomplishment.

Mt. Ararat won the Eastern Class A championship Wednesday with a resounding 10-9 victory over Brunswick, the defending state champion and the regional champion for the past four seasons.

Awarded a free position as a result of a foul with less than two minutes left in the game, Sarah Berry scored the winning goal with 1:40 left to secure Mt. Ararat’s first regional title in girls’ lacrosse.

“I was fouled and I was going in and I knew someone was coming for me, so I faked and I shot low and hoped for the best,” said Berry, who scored two goals.

“I got the goal and it was a real adrenaline rush.”

Mt. Ararat will face Western champion Scarborough at 3 p.m. Saturday at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium for the Class A state championship. The Red Storm beat Gorham 15-14 in overtime.

After Berry’s goal, the second-seeded Eagles (10-4) clamped down on defense, allowing the top-ranked Dragons (11-3) two shots in the final 1:40. Eagles goalie Evelyn Dickinson (six saves) stopped Sarah Croston’s shot with under 30 seconds left, and Brunswick’s second shot went wide of the goal.

“We worked so hard and played with our heart the entire game,” Berry said. “That last 1:40, we all knew we had to come together, go man to man and go all out. We wanted this so bad.”

The Dragons took a 3-2 lead in the first 13 minutes, but Whitney Dano scored three of her five goals in the first half to help the Eagles take a 5-3 lead with 7:19 left before Brunswick’s Eliza Halmo (four goals) cut the lead to 5-4 with 6:33 remaining.

Brunswick had possession in Mt. Ararat’s end in the final 20 seconds of the half, but was unable to put a shot on goal.

Mt. Ararat stretched its lead to 7-4 less than a minute into the second half, but Brunswick cut the lead to 7-6 on Anna Holmblad’s goal in the 29th minute, then trailed 9-8 with 9:41 left.

But after Jacki Kelly scored her third goal to tie the game 9-9 with 5:05 left, Berry answered with the winner.

“I thought Mt. Ararat played absolutely their best game we’ve seen,” Brunswick Coach Beth Caputi said. “They played so much better than when we played them (May 24) and beat us 10-9 before.

“My team played well, and I thought Mt. Ararat’s defense was fabulous.

“But for us, most of the emotion is in feeling like (we) all let each other down. It’s a feeling of, we didn’t end with an exclamation point.”

 

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:

rlenzi@pressherald.com

 

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