BRUNSWICK — As each team entered Wednesday’s girls high school lacrosse game, Brunswick and Morse looked to stop losing streaks they were both sitting on. 

The Dragons scored the first five goals in the second-half to grab the momentum and never looked back as they downed the visiting Shipbuilders, 15-6, in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference action. 

Tied 4-4 at the break, the Dragons tallied 11 second-half goals on 17 shots to snap a five-game losing streak. 

“I said to them at halftime that we need to fire it up and need to be smart,” Brunswick coach Brittany Vogt said. “We went to our attackers and middies and told them what we needed them to do and they came out and executed it.” 

Brunswick’s Emily Cloutier led all scorers with five goals, all in the second half, followed by senior Lila Solberg’s three scores and three assists. Cloutier also added an assist. 

Morse’s Delaney Pascuzzo and Marija Medenica each netted a pair of goals for the Shipbuilders. 

The win moved the Dragons (3-6) into seventh place in the Class B Heal Points with three games remaining, including a home clash with “Battle of the Bridge” foe Mt. Ararat on Friday at 6 p.m. The top 10 teams qualify for postseason play. 

Morse fell to 3-7 and takes on Cony on Friday at McMann Field at 5 p.m.  

The Shipbuilders came out strong and captured the momentum early on. After Brunswick’s Anna Nadeau put the Dragons on the board to open the game, the visitors tallied the next three goals on their first three shots with scores from Sydney Moore, Medenica and Emma Warner to grab a 3-1 lead less than seven minutes into the game. 

“I think we did come out strong, we were fired up as we know our schools are rivals and we have friends on the team,” Warner said. “We knew it would be competitive since some of us knew some of their players from other sports and we wanted to do our best. I also think once they realized we were going to play tough, they stepped it up.” 

“We weren’t being smart with our shots,” Vogt said of the slow start. “We weren’t facing them or taking the goalie out, but I think it was just a matter of settling down and the girls getting into their heads they can do it.” 

Solberg scored her first goal five minutes later, but Morse’s Pascuzzo scored off a Warner helper to push the lead back to two. 

Brunswick’s Amanda Cloutier and Chloe Coombs registered goals three minutes apart to tie the score as the hosts were slowly grabbing the momentum. 

Despite being outshot 15-6 in the first 25 minutes, Morse co-coach Jess Avery was pleased with the Shipbuilders first-half performance. 

“What we liked about the first half were the quick goals that came off nice passes on good quality shots,” Avery said. “We played as a group and our defense was tight in the first half. It also helped that our goalie was spot on.” 

Morse keeper Abby Sreden made 11 saves in the opening half. 

“She had some amazing saves, she sees the ball so well,” Warner said of the junior keeper. “There were a few shots where there were tough corners, but she got to a lot of balls today, she has a great eye.” 

Second half surge 

It didn’t take long for the Dragons to break the deadlock. Less than a minute and a half into the frame, Gia Guernelli beat Sreden to give the Dragons their first lead since the opening minutes. 

From there, Emily Cloutier took over on offense, scoring the next four goals to extend the Dragons lead to 9-4 with 11:42 left on the clock. 

“She is such a spark,” Vogt said. “As soon as she gets that fire in her it just goes to everyone else out on the field and it’s so nice to have out there.” Cunningham scored Morse’s first goal of the half at the 10:54 mark, but the Dragons answered with four more unanswered goals. 

Assists from Mackenzie Dorr, Guernelli, Taylor Cunningham, Emma Dorr and Solberg contributed to the second half scoring attack. 

“They all work together as we have such a cohesive team this year,” Vogt added. “It gets contagious, when one person is down, everyone is down, and when one person is up, everyone is up.” 

Emily Cloutier also thinks when things are going well, it can be personally contagious.  

“We have been working really well together and to see everyone working so hard, it gave me the drive to want to be a big part of this team,” the sophomore said. 

She also credits senior leadership from the upperclassmen for the team’s cohesiveness. 

“They are incredible,” the attacker said of her senior teammates, including her sister Amanda. “They are all very hard workers and are very supportive no matter what. Everyone is close on the team which is very nice.” 

Amanda Cloutier and Mackenzie Dorr each finished with two goals for the Dragons, as keeper Mikaela Aschbrenner made seven saves in net. 

For Morse, the loss in another set-back in a season that has had its ups and downs. With players missing action for numerous reasons, the Shipbuilders have seen a handful of players swing on both jayvee and varsity. 

“We have a good solid group of swinging kids and they’re right there,” Avery said. “They are putting in the extra practice and filling in whatever positions we need while trying their best, and that’s all we can ask for. 

“We’re proud of these girls. We have not fielded a varsity team with all of our starters at all this entire season. It’s tough to get in a rhythm and get used to your group, but they don’t give up and they play hard and play clean with great sportsmanship.” 

Sreden faced 32 Brunswick shots, turning away 17 in the loss. 

“To Brunswick’s credit, they were threading the needle, putting that ball in places we didn’t think they would shoot,” Avery said. “Abby was in the right spots, they were taking tough angle shots. What Abby didn’t save, I would give credit to Brunswick as being a great shot. It just went Brunswick’s way today.”

 

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