BRUNSWICK

Like most high school competitions between the two schools separated by the Androscoggin River, Friday night’s girls hockey game between Brunswick and Mt. Ararat/Morse was no different.

In a tightly-played battle, with outstanding goaltending on both sides, the Dragons held on for a 3-1 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory at Sidney J. Watson Arena.

Brunswick, wearing the home whites, nearly struck first minutes into the game, but Labbe’s wrister hit the post for the miss. However, the Dragons did knock one into the net with under 10 minutes remaining in the opening period when Elena Palmer picked up a loose puck after the Eagles failed to clear and the freshman slipped one past Eagles goalie Lily Schenk for the score.

Brunswick closed out the period with a 7-5 advantage in shots, including a breakaway from Labbe that Schenk denied late in the frame.

“We played well on both sides of the puck tonight,” said Brunswick coach Dave Boucher.

Brunswick continued it’s pressure on the Mt. Ararat/Morse defense, and Schenk. The sophomore goalie stopped all 10 shots she saw in the middle stanza. Brunswick also missed a couple of scoring opportunities when rebounds were shot wide off open nets.

“We put the puck on goal a lot tonight, their goalie did a great job out there,” added Boucher.

Brunswick’s goalie, Hannah Wentworth did her part, keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard. The freshman turned away seven shots in the first two periods to keep the score 1-0 through two.

“Hannah plays big, she’s done real well in goal for us as a freshman,” said Boucher. “Our defense was a little short-handed tonight and we got great two-play from Emily Bickford.”

At the 10-minute mark of the third period, Greta White got a stick on a puck that Schenk had just knocked away from the net and lifted it wide of the open net for a near goal. A minute later, White had the puck once again, this time pushing it over to Labbe in front of the net, and the junior struck it home for a Brunswick two-goal lead.

“It’s always fun to score in a game like this,” said Labbe. “Everyone brings their ‘A’ game.”

Back in the Dragons defensive end, the Eagles stepped up their pressure, taking more shots at Wentworth only to be denied by the netminder, playing in her first “Battle of the Bridge” game.

“I just had to convince myself that this was just a normal average game, not to stress myself out or anything,” said Wentworth.

The Eagles finally broke through, getting a score from Ema Hawkes with 2:08 remaining in the game to cut the lead to 2-1.

“I can’t ask anymore of this group,” said Mt. Ararat coach Jeremy Saxton. “We just came off a loss in the final seconds against Yarmouth, and tonight we were in the game the whole time. We’ve come a long way and we’re slowly building it (the program) up.”

Labbe sealed the win for the Dragons after she stole the puck at center ice and skated down the right side to beat Schenk for the final goal with 19 seconds left.

“I knew right before the face-off we needed one more goal to put it away. I had it in my head that I needed to score right there and went at it,” said the junior.

“Hats off to Mt. Ararat, they made it tough to score tonight. Both teams’ goalies played well tonight and it was good game,” said Boucher.

Schenk finished with 24 saves, while Wentworth stopped a dozen in the win.

Brunswick improves to 2-5 and next plays against Yarmouth/Freeport on Dec. 29 at Travis Roy Arena at 5:20 p.m. The Eagles (0-6) will travel to Gorham to play Gorham/Bonny Eagle/Massabesic this upcoming Friday at 3 p.m.

Dragons 3,
Eagles 1

Friday at Sidney J. Watson Arena
Eagles— 001—1
Dragons— 102—3
First period — 1. (B) Elena Palmer,
2:27. Penalties — (MtA) Alyssa Dau,
roughing, 5:27, (B) Beth Labbe,
roughing, 8:31, (MtA) Kayleigh Temple, tripping, 11:51.
Second period — No scoring. Penalties — None.
Third period — 2. (B) Beth Labbe
(Greta White), 6:00; 3. (MtA) Ema
Hawkes, 12:52; 4. (B) Beth Labbe,
pp, 14:41. Penalties — (MtA) Bre
Hunter, roughing, 14:25.
Shots on goal — Brunswick 27, Mt.
Ararat 13.
Saves — (MtA) Lily Schenk 24; (B)
Hannah Wentworh 12.
Power play — Mt. Ararat 0-for-2;
Brunswick 1-for-3.
Records — Brunswick 2-5; Mt.
Ararat 0-6.
Up next for the Eagles — Friday Dec.
22 at Gorham/Bonny Eagle/Massabessic at 3 p.m.
Up next for the Dragons — Friday
Dec. 29 at Yarmouth/Freeport/Gray-
New Gloucester at 5:20.