BRUNSWICK

There is no doubt that the “Battle of the Bridge” rivalry between Brunswick and Mt. Ararat in most sports can be a bit testy.

But, 29 penalties, two game misconducts, a player taken to the hospital, two 10- minute misconducts and a lot of nastiness went beyond the norm when the Dragons and Eagles met in a girls high school hockey game at Sidney J. Watson Arena on Wednesday.

The final score may get lost – a 7-1 Brunswick victory – after the penalty-filled contest.

“There were a lot of collisions, people skating out of control and colliding,” said Brunswick coach Dave Boucher. “People want penalties called, was it accidental or out of control? Just a lot of tripping and they had to keep calling penalties. We had our fair share of unnecessary penalties.”

Brunswick took control of the game in the opening period, out-shooting the Eagles 17-1 and getting a goal each from Beth Labbe (50 seconds in) and Caroline Headley (assisted by Jillian Giunti).

The Dragons grabbed a 3-0 lead on a power-play goal by Colleen McKearney 3:15 into the middle frame.

Play came to a halt with 9:01 remaining in the second period when a collision sent a Mt. Ararat/Morse player to the hospital and Brunswick’s McKearney out of the game with a major for a hit to the head and a game misconduct. The teams left the ice for 25 minutes as the player was attended to by medical personnel.

Once returning, eight more infractions were called in the period, with Brunswick scoring the lone goal when Jenna Brooks fired a shot past Mt. Ararat/Morse goaltender Lily Schenk at the midway point of the second for a 4-0 lead.

“Part of it was the refs were calling it tight, but it is a rivalry game and the tensions are usually high,” said Brunswick captain Anna Webster. “I find this happens when we play Mt. Ararat. We passed the puck well and we were able to get around them.”

Things didn’t calm down in the third period, with 11 more penalties called, including three bench minors on the Eagles and the ejection of head coach Ron Hutchins, who declined comment after the game.

Lydia Ginty, Brooks and Madeline Berry scored in the third period for the Dragons as Boucher rolled his bench.

“We got everybody in, all four lines, skated three lines through two periods, and we skated four ‘D’ and had some good plays on goals tonight,” said Boucher. “They played hard and deserved to win tonight. Going forward, we need to have our full team. We are missing Rayna (Sage) and now missing Colleen. When you’re missing some of your top players, it changes all the lines.”

Mt. Ararat/Morse found the scoreboard with 3:46 remaining when Isa Blessington put home a rebound of an Ana Knight shot.

Brunswick played two goaltenders in the contest, with Nadia Leiner playing the first two periods and making five saves. Marilyn Daniel relieved for the third period and faced 14 Mt. Ararat/Morse shots, turning away 13.

Schenk made several solid saves throughout the contest. She made 28 stops, including stopping Brooks twice on a breakaway and Labbe from point-blank range.

The power-play units were busy, with the Dragons scoring one power-play goal on nine chances. The Eagles failed to score on their nine man-up opportunities.

Both teams face Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland next, with the Dragons home to the Red Hornets tonight at 8 p.m., and the Eagles visiting Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn on Monday at noon.

Brunswick 7, Mt. Ararat/Morse 1

At Sidney J. Watson Arena

Brunswick	—	2	2	3	—	7
MtA/Morse	—	0	0	1	—	1

First period — 1. (B) Beth Labbe, :50; 2. (B) Caroline Headley (Jillian Giunti), 9:20. Penalties — (MtA) Kieley Hetherington, tripping, 7:33; (B) Colleen McKearney, high sticking, 9:20; (B) Mikaela Aschbrenner, cross checking, 10:34; (MtA) Isabel Burch, hooking, 10:34; (B) Beth Labbe, cross checking, 11:19; (MtA) Nataleigh Ormsby, body checking, 11:47. Second period — 3. (B) Colleen McKearney (Anna Webster), pp, 3:15; 4. (B) Jenna Brooks, 7:30. Penalties — (MtA) Heather Diver, holding, 1:55; (B) Beth Labbe, slashing, 5:50; (B) Colleen McKearney, major, hit to the head, game misconduct, served by Aidan Crawford, 5:59; (MtA) Isabel Burch, tripping, 7:05; (MtA) Bench, unsportsmanlike conduct, served by Amber Card, 7:05; (MtA) Kieley Hetherington, tripping, 7:37; (B) Beth Labbe, roughing, 9:09; (MtA) Isabel Burch, roughing, 9:09; (B) Jillian Giunti, tripping 11:35; (MtA) Isabel Burch, body checking, 11:56; (B) Madeline Berry, interference, 13:18; (MtA) Isabel Burch, tripping, 14:35. Third period — 5. (B) Lydia Ginty (Jenna Brooks), 2:31; 6. (B) Jenna Brooks, 4:41; 7. (B) Madeline Berry, sh, 10:38; 8. (MtA) Isa Blessington (Ana Knight), 11:14. Penalties — (MtA) Bench, unsportsmanlike conduct, served by Amber Card, :00; (B) Beth Labbe, hooking, 2:48, (MtA) Kieley Hetherington, tripping, 4:14; (MtA) Bench, unsportsmanlike conduct, served by Ana Knight, 9:08; (MtA) Head coach Ron Hutchins, game misconduct, 9:44; (B) Jenna Brooks, tripping, 9:44; (B) Lydia Ginty, unsportsmanlike conduct, 9:44; (B) Caroline Headley, interference, 12:26; (MtA) Bench, too many men; (B) Jillian Giunti, 10-minute misconduct, 13:17; (MtA) Kayleigh Temple, 10-minute misconduct, 13:17; (B) Shea Sullivan, slashing, 13:55. Shots on goal — (B) 17-11-7-35; (MtA) 1-4-14-19. Saves — (B) Nadia Leiner 5; (B) Marilyn Daniel 13; (MtA) Lily Schenk 28. Power play — Brunswick 1-for-9; Mt. Ararat/Morse 0-for-9. Records — Brunswick 6-6; Mt. Ararat/Morse 0-12. Up next for the Dragons — Tonight at home vs. Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland, 8 p.m. Up next for the Eagles — Monday at Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland, noon.