It is still the early part of the high school soccer season, with teams still trying to figure out their identity.
On Tuesday, “Battle of the Bridge” rivals Brunswick and Mt. Ararat met in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference clash with matching 2-1 records, but far from the teams the Dragons and Eagles will likely be come the rematch in Topsham on Oct. 11.
On Brunswick’s next push into Mt. Ararat territory, Hartill’s pass this time found Arthur, who made no mistake to produce a 2-0 contest with 7:57 left until halftime.
“She is a sophomore, and though Bailey has not seen much playing time, she works hard and is tough,” said Brunswick coach Martyn Davison of Hartill. “To come off the bench and play like that shows great strength of character.”
“I was excited to go in and I just ran down the sideline and hoped for the best,” said Hartill of her goal with 8:40 left in the opening half. “It is nice to see that other people on this team can contribute big goals. We know that opponents look to defend Maeve and Kira (Wolpow). It was nice to see the hard work pay off.”
For Mt. Ararat, it was a tough game, where long possessions were rare and shots, just five in the game, were few.
“It is a psychological battle, and we just didn’t play a good game today,” said Mt. Ararat coach Sam Chard. “They out-hustled us, stepped to the ball better, and we waited for them. The team that is going to win it is the team that is going to hustle. They did that better than we did.”
Brunswick pressure
The Dragons came out quickly, pressuring the Mt. Ararat defense. Wolpow, Sara Scrapchansky, Arthur and Lea Scrapchansky had their chances to get Brunswick on the board, with the hosts holding a 5-0 shot advantage and 2- 0 edge in corner kicks in the game’s first 11 minutes.
“We were getting chances but our finishes were not good, going over the bar or straight at the keeper,” said Davison. “Our shooting was way off, but thankfully we got that first one.”
Hartill entered the game and found a bit of space on the right wing. With Arthur cutting hard to the cage, Hartill chipped a pass off an Eagles defender. As Guerin moved to defend Arthur, the ball changed direction and slipped into the cage just inside the right post.
Brunswick, behind defenders Aidan Sachs, Rian Sachs, Mikaela Aschbrenner and Dina Murphy, forced a Mt. Ararat turnover. Aidan Sachs sent a long pass to Arthur, who found Hartill in her familiar spot along the wing.
Hartill faked a shot and slipped a pass through to Arthur, with her shot finding the back of the net for a 2-0 edge.
The Dragons put the game away with a late first-half goal.
Sara Scrapchansky gained control steps outside the penalty area before sending a rising shot over Guerin’s hands with 17 ticks left in the frame.
Brunswick held a 13- 3 shot advantage at the half.
Mt. Ararat tried to mount a second-half comeback, its best chance coming early when Nikki Bradstreet broke behind the Brunswick defense.
However, her shot sailed high of Dragons keeper Beth Labbe’s cage.
“We have been struggling with the midfield, trying to find a link to get the ball up top,” said Chard. “We had a couple breakaways that we didn’t capitalize on. We have to work harder.”
From there, the Brunswick defense took away most Mt. Ararat outlets, adjusting to the long ball.
“ Second half, we just bunkered down, knowing they would come out hard at us,” said Davison.
For the game, Brunswick held a 21-5 shot advantage and took all five corner kicks. Hartill feels her team has found a bit of momentum after suffering a tough loss to Camden Hills a week earlier.
“We are playing better and working harder,” said the sophomore. “It is exciting to play well and beat our rivals.”
Brunswick 3, Mt. Ararat 0
At Brunswick
| Mt. | Ararat | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Brunswick | — | 3 | 0 | — | 3 |
Goals — (B) Bailey Hartill, Maeve Arthur, Sara Scrapchansky. Assist — (B) Bailey Hartill. Shots — Brunswick 21, Mt. Ararat 5. Saves — (MtA) Kate Guerin 10; (B) Beth Labbe 3. Corner kicks — Brunswick 5, Mt. Ararat 0. Records — Brunswick 3-1, Mt. Ararat 2-2. Up next for the Eagles — Friday at home vs. Skowhegan, 6:30 p.m. Up next for the Dragons — Thursday at Oxford Hills, 6 p.m.
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