TOPSHAM — Anna Kousky scored her second goal of the game with 18 seconds left to lift Brunswick to a 3-2 victory against Mt. Ararat in a Class A North girls’ soccer game Tuesday night.
Kousky, a freshman who has five goals in her last three games, made it 2-2 with less than 13 minutes left.
“She’s a very good freshman player,” Brunswick Coach Martyn Davidson said. “She’s skillful … but she’s got an eye for the goal. The two goals she scored were just (by) making the runs so to be in the right position to finish the through ball.”
The winning goal came after goalie Kate Guerin leaped and used both hands to bat Kira Wolpow’s blast from the left corner away from the goal. Kousky was there to run the rebound into the left side.
Kousky’s first goal came when she redirected Sabina Smith’s centering pass past Guerin.
“It was off the good crosses,” Kousky said. “It was all about the three Hs – hard work, hustle and heart.”
The play appeared to be relatively even with the visiting Dragons (4-1) holding a 13-11 edge in shots over the Eagles (3-1-1).
“They were the better team tonight, absolutely,” Mt. Ararat Coach Sam Chard said. “They controlled the midfield and got better shots, better chances.”
Chard said his team simply didn’t get many chances.
“Their defense is solid,” he said. “We couldn’t get very many opportunities and if we did, they weren’t very productive.”
Mt. Ararat rallied from a 1-0 deficit to take the lead in the second half.
With less than four minutes left in the first half, Jenna Brooks, another freshman, opened the scoring on one of Brunswick’s few forays deep into the Mt. Ararat end in the first half.
Brooks got her feet on the ball in front of the right post with her back to the goal. When Guerin came off the line to help the fullback defend, Brooks pivoted and then rolled a shot inside the far post.
Less than a minute later, Nikki Bradstreet tied it when her hard shot from the right side went in off the body of a defender.
The Eagles, who held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks, took the lead with less than 13 minutes left when Summer Becker chipped the ball in from 15 yards directly in front of the goal after receiving a pass from Anna Manuel.
About two minutes later, Kousky scored her first goal to tie it.
“Down 2-1 with 15 minutes to go is a tough battle,” Davidson said, “but the kids did great. They stayed composed and did it.”
“I know some of our kids were nervous,” Chard said, “but in a big game like this you can’t get nervous. You’ve got to go out there and play the game.”
Guerin and Brunswick goalie Beth Labbe, a freshman, were credited with making six saves apiece.
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