TOPSHAM — Mt. Ararat had its chances, but then Brunswick showed how tough it can be.

The battle-tested Dragons pulled away late in the first half and then controlled the second, coming away with a 4-0 victory over the Eagles in Tuesday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference “Battle of the Bridge” girls’ soccer game at Riverside Field.

Brunswick is 4-0 heading into Thursday’s key home contest against Bangor, while the Eagles follow up their first defeat with another home game Friday, against defending Class A champion Camden Hills.

Brunswick secured the momentum in the closing minute of an evenly played first half. Alexis Guptil drove a corner kick from teammate Emily Larochelle into the net with 53 seconds remaining to give the Dragons a 2-0 lead.

“If (Guptill’s goal) hadn’t have gone in, my halftime tune would have been different because I wasn’t happy at the way we were playing,” said Brunswick Coach Martyn Davison. “It took us a while to get used to the field, because we like to pass the ball but the balls were going everywhere.”

With the two-goal advantage, Brunswick was able to use the possession game to keep the ball away from Mt. Ararat, and goals from Bailey Hartill and Isabella Banks helped close out the win.

“We had four mistakes, and four goals,” said Mt. Ararat Coach Chad Kirk. “I feel we can still get better because I’m so young, where (the Dragons) are what they are, with a good starting group. It was a learning lesson, and we have Camden on Friday, so it doesn’t get any easier.

“It is just about getting better and gaining that confidence. We’re going in the right direction.”

Kirk had defender Jessica Cloutier guarding Brunswick standout Anna Kousky throughout the game, a tough task considering Kousky’s speed. Cloutier performed solidly, but there was little she was able to do on Brunswick’s first goal when Kousky gained control and blasted a 20-yard shot past Eagles goaltender Abby Sirois 13:29 into the game.

“Tomorrow at practice, everything will be two-touch, because we won’t see that speed that (Kousky) shows us,” Kirk said.

Mt. Ararat (3-1) had its share of chances in the first 40 minutes. Ema Hawkes sent a shot over the goal while colliding with Brunswick starting goaltender Aisley Snell and standout defender Rian Sachs. Later in the half, Heather Gallant and Zoe McNally had chances to slip a shot past Snell.

A late corner kick allowed Brunswick to double its lead.

“It is always a great game against Mt. Ararat, really aggressive, and we knew that we had to dig in and make sure that we got the result that we wanted,” said Banks. “Making it 2-0 is always important. You want to get to even numbers and not stay on odds.”

Brunswick claimed a 3-0 lead with 28:22 remaining in the second half when Hartill finished off a three-way pass from Larochelle and Banks. Ten minutes later, Banks’ rising free kick slipped in under the crossbar to complete the scoring.

“The second half was immensely better. We settled down and played our game,” Banks said.

Brunswick held a 14-4 shot advantage in the contest and a 7-3 edge in corner kicks. Snell turned away three shots before giving way to Beth Labbe, who made one save. Sirois stopped 10 Brunswick shots.

Davison was impressed with Mt. Ararat’s growth after a tough 5-8-1 campaign last year.

“They are physically a lot stronger, and the first half they were first to the ball and outplayed us,” said Davison.

“They will be the same team next year and the year after, so I think they will be a force to come.”