BRUNSWICK

When the Brunswick High School boys lacrosse team gets going, it really gets going.

In Wednesday’s Class A North regional final against Windham, another dominant scoring surge was enough to propel the Dragons into a third straight state championship game.

After a tight first quarter, the hosts reeled off eight goals in the second frame en route to a comfortable 19-10 win that earned them a date with Scarborough on Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

“This is some place we probably shouldn’t have been, but they’ve accomplished it,” Brunswick coach Don Glover said. “When we started off the season we knew we had a good group of athletes, but having 19 new names on the roster for varsity is a pretty daunting task. Now, they’ve got the right disposition of ‘let’s just go out and play.’”

“It feels great,” said Ben Palizay, who led the Brunswick attack with four goals. “Lots of hard work and teamwork.”

With the score 3-2 heading into the second quarter, No. 1 Brunswick (12-2) and Josh Dorr got things going just 17 seconds in. Long-stick midfielder Christian Glover grabbed a rolling ball off the ground at midfield and ran it down field to score at 11:10 and Aiden Glover found a goal less than a minute later.

By the time No. 6 Windham (10-5) caught its breath midway through the quarter, the Dragons had put five balls in the back of the net.

“It gives us momentum,” Palizay said of the scoring spree. “We just work together, work hard and it just gives us momentum.”

Palizay scored a pair of unassisted goals in the commanding second frame, where Brunswick outshot the Eagles 17-3. Christian Glover notched an unassisted hat trick in the quarter and scored the final goal of the half directly out of a timeout at the 1:56 mark. Windham scored back-to-back goals twice (8:15, 7:32 and 2:42, 2:16) but the Dragons’ offense never let up.

Eight of the 12 shots the Dragons put on Jacob Dionne’s net went in, and by the end of the night, they had peppered the Windham netminder with 44 takes on net.

“We’re trying to push the game to play more transition and be more open with it,” Don Glover said. “We knew that we had some opportunities and possibly some mismatches. I think our boys are playing very open lacrosse right now because this is all icing on the cake.”

Windham came out swinging in the third quarter, throwing 12 shots (to Brunswick’s six) on goal and scoring four times, but four saves from goalie Logan Ouellette kept the Eagles at bay. It was again a pair of back-to-back scoring stints for the visitors (Tyler Woolston, Zach Hough and Ross Batchelder, Zack Callahan) and both times, the Dragons were quick to shake off the goals.

Aiden Glover, Palizay and Max Gramins each scored at the end of the third quarter, while Jameson Cyr responded to two Eagles’ goals by scoring himself just 44 seconds into the final frame.

“Glover’s (Don) a great coach. He always helps us. He makes changes accordingly and just gets us back in the game,” Palizay said.

All about us

By the end of the fourth quarter, the Brunswick backups were making plays on the field while the starters awaited celebration on the sidelines. The convincing win was a major contrast from the tight, back-and-forth semifinal game with No. 4 Cheverus on Saturday (10-9), but like most Brunswick victories, it all started on the ground.

The Dragons controlled the faceoffs (20-13) and held the edge on loose balls, winning 35 ground balls to Windham’s 22.

“This group of young men is incredible — their effort, their focus, their desire to get better and their desire to make a name for themselves. We didn’t want to be in the shadows of last year’s team and their accomplishments, which were obviously noteworthy, but this group of guys came out and said ‘let’s get better and see how far we can get up the ladder,’” Don Glover said.

The 19 goals Coach Glover’s team scored on Wednesday were the second most all season, and for him, the Dragons are playing their best lacrosse at the best possible time. For that reason, he said nothing will change as he looks for another state title.

“I don’t think there’s going to be anything different that we approach Scarborough with,” Don Glover said. “You hear our mantra ‘us.’ This is about us and about the things that we can do as a group.

“The opponent that we’ve looked at, we’ve just been kind of looking at trends and seeing what they do, but it’s more about how we execute our game.”

Brunswick will practice and play in an alumni game today before heading down to Portland for a 6p.m. game on Saturday.

No. 1 Brunswick 19, No. 6 Windham 6

Class A North Regional Final At Brunswick High School

Goals — (W) Bryce Rolfe, Ross Batchelder 3, Tyler Woolston 2, Thomas Lekousi, Zack Callahan, 2ach Hough; (B) Jameson Cyr 2, Max Gramins 4, Josh Dorr 2, Christian Glover 3, Aiden Glover 3, Josh Clark, Ben Palizay 4. Assists — (W) Zack Callahan 4, Tyler Woolston; (B) Christian Glover, Aaron Carlton, Cole Hillis, Aiden Glover 2, Josh Dorr, Ben Palizay, Josh Clark. Shots — Brunswick 44, Windham 27 Face-offs — Brunswick 20, Windham 13 Records — Brunswick 12-2, Windham 10-5 Up next for the Dragons — Class A State Championship game against Scarborough at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, time 6 p.m.