BRUNSWICK

Each season, the Mt. Ararat and Brunswick field hockey teams clash in high school Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference contests twice, once in Topsham and the other in Brunswick.

Wednesday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference “Battle of the Bridge” rematch was in Brunswick, but not on the high school field. The teams instead met on the Bowdoin College Ryan Field turf under the lights.

The result? A fast-paced, end-to-end quality field hockey contest that saw the Eagles come away with a 2-0 win, leaving both teams with finishing 5-9 records.

Coming into Wednesday’s finale, the cards were laid out — a Brunswick win and the Dragons were playoff bound in Class A North. However, Mt. Ararat played the role of spoiler, scoring a goal in each half and surviving a barrage from Brunswick. The Dragons outshot the Eagles (17-5), held a dominating edge in penalty corners (12-1) and controlled the territorial advantage, especially in the second half when Brunswick looked to tie the game.

Instead, Mt. Ararat senior goaltender Haley Frizzle stole the show, stopping all 17 Dragon shots.

“My goalkeeper is an All- State goalie who has come through for us over the years,” said Mt. Ararat coach Krista Chase of Frizzle. “She is one of the reasons that I got back into coaching. I had the chance to work with her and saw how amazingly skilled and the potential that she had. Her leadership is unprecedented. She has won us some games and leaves a big hole back there for us next year.”

Frizzle talked about playing on the fast turf.

“We don’t practice on turf, but the speed and the way we stuck together, we really wanted this one,” said the senior. “It is so much faster on turf. It makes you excited to be there. This is one of the games that we really wanted. Our seniors wanted this last win and we put everything we had into it.”

Despite coming up short of a playoff spot, Brunswick coach Karin Paquin showed little in the way of disappointment. She watched her senior group of Elena Dugal, Lauren Grocholl, Hannah Escoe, Anna Webster and Ketty Stinson go through the struggles of building a program over the past four years, turning around a group of Dragons from a team just struggling to score to producing a five-win campaign.

“This year is a culmination of the four years that I have been building a program,” said Paquin. “To come up with five wins and to score 17 goals is amazing. We had a year where we scored just one goal. We now have this flow and we have a common goal, to make a playoff team. Now, these incoming freshman will be looking to beat these five wins next season. You leave it all on the field and have no regrets.

“These seniors are amazing. They have come so far in the four years that I have been their coach. They came into the season in shape and were ready to tackle this year.”

Early goal

Mt. Ararat came out quickly, scoring on its first shot 7:04 into the contest. Wyley Fitzpatrick dug a loose ball away from the Brunswick defense and fed Porter Galvin in front of Brunswick starting goaltender Ainsley Harrower. Galvin found the back of the net for a 1-0 Eagles lead.

Libby Felkay came into the game in Brunswick’s net and was forced to make two tough stops to keep it a one-goal game.

Brunswick produced some pressure on the Mt. Ararat defense, earning a pair of penalty corners and taking five consecutive shots on Frizzle. Shea Sullivan had the best Dragons chance, launching a high shot on goal that had Frizzle jumping high for a save, with Sullivan launching two rebound shots on the netminder to no avail.

“Haley had a really good game and blocked all of our shots,” said Escoe.

Brunswick turned up the pressure in the second half, launching 12 shots on Frizzle and earning 10 penalty corners. Sullivan and Rosie White tried to get a shot past the prone Frizzle, who made two stops while lying on the turf.

“Their senior goalie, I have watched her develop, and some of those saves were just crazy saves,” said Paquin. “When you have a stellar goalie in the net, you have to learn to get around her, and we just didn’t do that tonight.”

Mt. Ararat nearly grabbed a two-goal edge when Magan Thomas-Copland beat the Brunswick defense and sprinted toward Felkay on a breakaway. But, the goaltender made the save.

But, there was little Felkay was able to do when Fitzpatrick converted a pass from Fiona Hoang with 5:18 remaining in regulation for a 2-0 Eagles advantage.

After the final horn, both teams gathered to say their good-byes, reflecting on this season.

“It was a turning point year for us,” said Escoe of the Dragons. “I am happy as a senior, as we feel that we have started something that will only keep getting better. We had seasons of one win, maybe a tie, so five wins was a great season. One day I will come back and Brunswick will be playing in a field hockey state championship.”

“I feel like this was one of the best group of girls that I have ever coached,” said Chase, who sees seniors Alana Weaver, Thalia Couture, Galvin, Caitlin Witwicki, Samantha Gonyea, Maia Carlson, Thomas-Copland, Laura Secone, Frizzle and Karlie Brillant depart. “It never feels good to not make playoffs, and a big part of that is on me. Too many one-goal losses this season. The seniors deserved to go out with a win and my team deserved to finish really strong. Coaching these girls has been the absolute joy of my coaching life so far.”

Felkay finished with three saves.

Mt. Ararat 2, Brunswick 0

At Bowdoin College

Goals — (MtA) Porter Galvin, Wyley Fitzpatrick. Assists — (MtA) Wyley Fitzpatrick, Fiona Hoang. Shots on goal — Brunswick 17, Mt. Ararat 5. Saves — (MtA) Haley Frizzle 17; (B) Ainsley Harrower 0, Libby Felkay 3. Penalty corners — Brunswick 12, Mt. Ararat 1. Records — Mt. Ararat 5-9, Brunswick 5-9. Note — The season has ended for both teams.