BRUNSWICK FORWARD Rachel Moroney (center, top photo) battles with Falmouth’s Megan Fortier (12) and Sammy Welch, while in the bottom photo, Dragons forward Sarah Thibeault (dark uniform) tries to maneuver around Yachtsmen players Meg Pierce and Moie Aaskov. The Brunswick High School girls ice hockey team handed Falmouth its first loss with a 5-3 victory on Saturday in a battle of first-place teams at the Falmouth Family Ice Center. The Dragons are 13-3-1.
Eliza Brooks — the gamewinning goal in the third period. The defense — keeping Yachtsmen sniper Megan Fortier off the scoresheet for the first time this season. Goaltender Claire Mendes — a solid 25- save effort and bouncing back from a soft goal that gave Falmouth a short-lived 2-1 lead.
Annie Kelly (one goal, one assist), Gillian Ford ( one goal), Suzannah Smith (two assists), Sarah Thibeault ( assist, unrelenting forechecking) and so on.
This victory had everything, with both teams playing physical and the packed audience on the edge of their seats in a battle of first-place teams — Brunswick in the East and Falmouth (16-1) of the West.
“ This gave us first place (Eastern A), and considering these seniors didn’t score a goal in the first eight games of their freshman year, I am extremely proud,” said Bodwell after his team improved to 13-3-1 and hosts Winslow in the season-finale this upcoming Saturday at 8: 30 p. m. “This is the best game I have seen this team play this year, playing with a lot of heart and hustling, forechecking and playing just a good, allaround game.”
“This is huge! I remember our first year when we came here, knowing we were going to have a good time and probably lose,” said Smith, who along with fellow blue-liners Caroline Wild and Jen Machin did the job in holding Falmouth to three goals. “We came here tonight with nothing to lose. It was OK if we lost this game, but we wanted to try our hardest and we won.”
Two quickies
The first period featured both teams holding the momentum. Falmouth came out flying, taking six of the first seven shots. Mendes flashed her blocker out to stop Fortier early, and smothered a wrister by Jayde Bazinet to keep the game scoreless.
Brunswick’s best chance in the early going was a shot by Ford that struck iron to the right of Falmouth goaltender Kirsten Mazur.
The Dragons began taking control, ending the first period with a 14-8 shot advantage. But, the Yachtsmen struck first, getting a goal by Gabby St. Angelo with 39 seconds remaining in the opening frame.
Brunswick struck right back as Rachel Moroney put in a rebound of a Smith shot on the power play just 16 seconds later to send the teams to the locker room even.
Abby Payson scored 1: 01 into the second period, with her wrist shot sneaking through the pads of Mendes for a 2-1 Falmouth lead.
Again, Brunswick came back, getting a goal from Wild at 5:23, with Brooks earning her first assist. “It was huge to not get behind by two goals,” said Bodwell.
Brunswick kept coming, getting a goal from Kelly (Brooks and Machin assisting) late in the period for a 3-2 edge. This time, Falmouth struck back as Jayde Bazinet put home a rebound of a shot from Alyse Bazinet 1:05 later for a 3- 3 deadlock after 30 minutes.
The third period was a matter of which team blinked first. Falmouth took the first five shots, but Brunswick pushed back. Brooks gave the Dragons the lead, finding the puck in a pileup in front of Mazur and scoring at 4:02 for a 4-3 lead.
Mendes made key stops on Sammy Welch and Alta Farrell to keep the Dragons in the lead, and Ford gave Brunswick some insurance with 5: 28 remaining off assists from Sarah Thibeault and Smith.
Fortier’s frustration led to her taking a slashing penalty on Smith late in regulation as the Dragons closed out the 5-3 victory.
“Every single time she carried the puck, we would swoop down and get right on here, and that frustrated her,” said Smith.
“Against Greely (two losses), they were more physical than us, so we have worked on that, knowing we could face Greely again,” said Bodwell. “We made sure we didn’t allow Fortier too much space, and did a good job defensively in limiting her opportunities.”
“ We forechecked so hard and did things to get in front of the net,” said Brooks. “To come in and know they are undefeated and had beaten Greely, this is mentally a big win for us.
“ We put all the pieces together, but in the end it’s about believing you can do it.”
Mazur turned aside 30 shots for Falmouth, with Brunswick finishing with a 35-28 shot advantage.
| Brunswick | 5, | |
| Falmouth | 3 |
At the Falmouth Family Ice Center
Brunswick—122—5
Falmouth— 120—3
First period — 1. (F) Gabby St. Angelo
(Sammy Welch, Jayde Bazinet), 14:21; 2.
(B) Rachel Moroney (Suzannah Smith),
pp, 14:37.
Second period — 3. (F) Abby Payson
(Alta Farrell); 4. (B) Caroline Wild (Eliza
Brooks); 5. (B) Annie Kelly (Eliza Brooks,
Jen Machin); 6. (F) Jayde Bazinet (Alyse
Bazinet), 13:06.
Third period — 7. (B) Eliza Brooks (Annie
Kelly), 4:02; 8. (B) Gillian Ford (Sarah
Thibeault, Suzannah Smith), 9:32.
Shots on goal — (B) 14-12-9 — 35; (F)
8-10-10 — 28.
Saves — ( B) Claire Mendes 25; ( F)
Kirsten Mazur 30.
Power-play opportunities — Brunswick
1-3; Falmouth 0-1.
Records — Brunswick 13-3-1, Falmouth
16-1.
Next for the Dragons — Saturday at
home against Winslow, 8:30 p.m.
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