BRUNSWICK

The Brunswick offense was clicking during a boys high school hockey game against Gorham on Friday night, but it was the defense that was tested late.

The game seemed all but over at the 2:07 mark in the final period when Dragons’ forward Jacob Hummer put his team up by two goals with a long shot from the left. But, the Rams and Carl Bear fired right back with a breakaway goal a minute later.

Riley Kirk was tested with a Gorham shot on net with 18.6 seconds left, but in the end, the Brunswick defense tightened up and held on to win its final home game of the year at Sidney J. Watson Arena, 4-3.

It was the second period that proved decisive for Brunswick (9-7-1), as it used an early penalty kill to spark momentum and control the frame after tying it up in the first. Shortly after a Jacob Towle shot careened off the post, Hummer gathered the puck on an angle and snuck it past Gorham (7-10) goalie Brogan McDonald on the left side to make it 2-1 at the 11:56 mark.

From there, it was total domination for the Dragons, who fired 10 straight shots on McDonald, ultimately outshooting the Rams, 13-2 in the second period.

“I thought we just really tried to look for each other more,” Brunswick’s Michael Deveaux said. “And really simplified the game down. We relied on each other and picked each other up on the bench to get it going.”

With just over four minutes left in the period, Deveaux found his brother Matthew in front of net, where he punched it in to give Brunswick a controlling 3-1 lead. It was a role reversal for the pair, who hooked up on the Dragons’ first goal of the night when Michael fired a wrist shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net for the 1-1 equalizer.

“Matthew Deveaux is our leading scorer right now,” Brunswick coach Bill Bodwell said. “He works well with his brother, and they’re going to have to play well — put the puck in the net.”

Bodwell said a coach’s decision left some of Brunswick’s players off the ice in the first period, but things were back to normal in the second when his team held a firm grip on the game.

“We basically went back to our regular lines in the second period,” Bodwell said. “We were moving our feet better, and we were feeling pretty good that we tied it up and made it 1-1. We just played stronger.”

“We really just tried to stick to the system and play a more defensive-minded game than we were in the first,” Michael Deveaux said of the second period turnaround. “I think that’s what ultimately helped us.”

Despite outshooting the Rams 22-11 on the night, the Dragons were tested by the visitors, who applied pressure at just the right times. Midway through the first period, Bear stole a puck on Brunswick’s side and bounced off a defenseman to create a breakaway on Kirk. Once close to net, he kept the puck low and shot straight into the bottom right-hand corner to open the scoring.

Bear’s final goal of the night, that cut the lead to 4-3 late and completed his hat trick, also came on a breakaway in which he skated by two Dragons’ defenders and beat Kirk one-on-one.

“We’ve just got to keep on playing our defensive zone coverage well,” Matthew Deveaux said. “We’ve also got to make really good passes to get out of our zone. In our zone, it’s really difficult to create offense.”

Kirk saved eight of the 11 shots the Rams put on his net.

The 3-1 Brunswick lead was cut to one with 9:47 to go in the game when Bear skated through traffic and gave Gorham a much-needed shorthanded goal.

“I’ve really got to watch the film and see what happened,” Bodwell said. “I think a lot of teams on the power play tend to skate a little bit slower, and we need to make sure that our power play skates harder than our man down. That may have been part of the issue.”

Bodwell’s squad responded promptly after the goal, putting seven straight testers on net before Hummer’s goal brought the score to 4-2. McDonald finished with 18 saves for Gorham.

Matthew Deveaux added two helpers to his goal, while Andrew Eno, Jacob Doring and Kyle Hartford each finished with an assist for Brunswick.

After two losses to Gardner and Yarmouth last week, the win comes at a good time for the hosts.

“We’ve just got to keep working in the practices,” Matthew Deveaux said. “Getting as best as we can for the playoffs. We’ve got one more regular season game left, so we’ve got one more test before.”

Brunswick will close its regular season with a visit to Greely on Wednesday at 6:50 p.m. With the win Friday, the Dragons pulled away from Gorham in the Class B South standings and secured a home playoff game at Watson Arena.

“That doesn’t happen a lot in this town,” Bodwell said. “That’s really the big thing we got tonight.”

Brunswick 4, Gorham 3

Friday, At Sidney J. Watson Arena

First period — (G) Carl Bear (Trevor Gray), 7:10; (B) Michael Deveaux (Matthew Deveaux), 11:50. Penalties — (B) Matthew Deveaux, boarding, 13:57. Second Period — (B) Jared Hummer (Jacob Doring), 3:04; (B) Matthew Deveaux (Michael Deveaux), 10:11. Penalties — (G) Ben Eichner, interference, 4:27; (G) Tanner Garand, roughing, 10:31. Third Period — (G) Carl Bear (Lucas Roop), sh, 5:13; (B) Jared Hummer (Andrew Eno, Kyle Hartford), 12:53; (G) Carl Bear (Trevor Gray), 13:54. Penalties — (B) Kyle Hartford, tripping, 2:50; (G) Willy Baxter, slashing, 4:57. Shots on goal — (G) 4-2-5 — 11; (B) 4-13-5 — 22. Saves — (G) Brogan McDonald 18; (B) Riley Kirk 8. Power play — (G) 0-for-2; (B) 0-for- 3. Records — Brunswick 9-7-1, Gorham 7-10. Up next for the Dragons — Wednesday at Greely, 6:50 p.m.