BRUNSWICK

Martyn Davison tried his best to not bring up last season.

The Brunswick High School girls soccer coach didn’t need to remind his Dragons about the way the 2012 campaign ended, a stunning 3-2 Eastern A quarterfinal home loss to seventhseeded Erskine Academy that derailed what had been an unbeaten season and high hopes of a state title.

This year, fourth-seeded Brunswick again was home for the quarters, this time against upset-minded Oxford Hills, the No. 5 seed.

There was no repeat performance.

Brunswick scored three second-half goals to pull away for a 4-0 victory and faces No. 1 Bangor, a 4-0 winner over Mt. Blue, in semifinal action on Saturday.

“It was a big game today, and I was thinking about last year a little bit yesterday, and this was a harder game than it seemed,” said Davison. “I sensed a real good attitude with this team the last few weeks, and we have been coming together. We worked hard on passing and possessing the ball, and when we did that, I just knew that we were going to win today.”

Converted striker Julia Champagne paced the Dragons with two goals and an assist.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and we came out really strong,” said Champagne. “This win means a lot. We didn’t make it past this point last year, so we are really excited and know in the next round we have to bring everything that we got. Everyone played so well today, and we are ready for the next game.”

For Oxford Hills, this puts an end to a big turnaround season, with the Vikings improving from three wins in 2012 to a solid 8-5-2 this year.

“This was a fantastic season for us, a great bounceback season from last year, winning three games, and we had high hopes to do better coming in,” said Oxford Hills coach Chad Truman. “We improved tremendously in our gameplan and our execution of that gameplan. We reached our goal, actually exceeded our goal for wins. I couldn’t be happier.”

Brunswick takes lead

Scoring opportunities were at a minimum in the opening 20 minutes. Only an Anna Cowan shot on Vikings goaltender Samantha Bickford (six saves) managed to slip through the two defenses.

Oxford Hills managed its first scoring chance when Coley Zufelt sent a pass to game-long standout Mikayla Morin, whose header sailed just wide of the goal. Morin had another chance moments later, with her shot finding the outside of the net.

Brunswick claimed a 1-0 lead with 6:41 left until halftime as Anna Cowan and Champagne combined on a give-and-go, with Cowan slipping a shot past the dive of Bickford for the only goal of the first half.

“The key was they were taking their outside mids and pushing them into the middle, and Brunswick was able to control the middle and keep us from transition and made us play defense throughout the first half,” said Truman.

At the half, Truman made a few adjustments, but Brunswick controlled the pace of play. Lena Martin scored on a long shot after receiving a pass from Emily Black with 29:37 remaining, and Champagne’s first goal 3:37 later upped Brunswick’s lead to 3-0.

“Our adjustments in the second half just didn’t pan out for us,” said Truman. “They just played really well. After the second goal, I changed some more things and probably went the wrong way. My hat’s off to Brunswick. They just passed around us today and are a well-coached team.”

“We passed the ball really well today, and once we did that, the confidence grew with the team,” said Davison. “I thought we started the second half a little bit slow, but after the second goal the confidence was there and the passing was really on the rest of the way.”

Champagne was unhappy when Davison moved her from her familiar midfield spot to forward, but has provided the Dragons with another solid finisher to go along with Cowan.

“She is a player that wants to play midfield, and that has been a battle all season, but she is a goal scorer and has the ability to hold the ball up and put it in,” said Davison of Champagne. “We were losing possession a lot in the early parts of the season, but she has moved up front and has just been phenomenal.”

“I haven’t really ever played striker, and when I was put there I didn’t like it at all,” admitted Champagne, who finished off her two-goal afternoon with 7:47 remaining, with Alicia Davis picking up an assist. “I tried to play as well as I can, and luckily my shots were going in today.”

Brunswick goaltender Haley Murano made two saves, including a breakaway stop on Morin with 3:08 remaining. She received solid support from defenders Caley Nicholson, Lyse Henshaw, Aidan Sachs and Emily Cowan, along with midfielders Madeline Cowan, Martin and Black. The Dragons finished with a 14-6 shots advantage and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks.

No. 4 Brunswick 4, No. 5 Oxfords Hills 0

Eastern Maine Class A Quarterfinals
At Brunswick
Oxford Hills — 0 0 — 0
Brunswick — 1 3 — 4
Goals — (B) Anna Cowan, Lena Martin, Julia Champagne 2.
Assists — (B) Julia Champagne,
Emily Black, Anna Cowan, Alicia
Davis.
Shots — Brunswick 14, Oxford Hills
6.
Saves — (OH) Samantha Bickford 6;
(B) Haley Murano 2.
Corner kicks — Brunswick 4, Oxford
Hills 1.
Records — Brunswick 10-4-1,
Oxford Hills 8-5-2.
Up next for Brunswick — Eastern A
semifinals against No. 1 Bangor on
Saturday. Time TBA.