AUGUSTA — Shaken, perhaps. But not stirred.
Riled by an early Camden Hills goal, the Brunswick girls soccer team stormed back with five unanswered of its own en route to a second straight Class A North regional championship with a 5-1 victory Tuesday night at Cony High School’s Fuller Field. The No. 1 Dragons remained undefeated on the year and will play in the Class A state final Saturday against Scarborough.
Freshman Molly Tefft and sophomore Alexis Morin each netted a pair of goals in the victory, which gave Brunswick (15-0-2) the program’s sixth regional title.
“Definitely we were a little shaken by that,” Brunswick junior left back Madeline Chaput said of Camden Hills’ go-ahead goal, which was only the sixth allowed all season by the Dragons.
After conceding the game’s opening goal in the 12th minute to a 30-yard Sydney Stone free kick in the 12th minute, which capped a torrid opening stretch from the third-seeded Windjammers, Brunswick grew into the game.
Brunswick’s Hannah Hamilton tries to gain control of the ball before Camden Hills’ Lea Zwecker gets to it in the Class A North girls regional final Tuesday at Cony High School in Augusta. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
The field tilted in the Dragons’ direction when Tefft scored the first of her two first-half goals in the 25th minute to equalize. But it was Tefft’s tremendous finish in the final minute of the period that wrestled the game away from Camden Hills.
On the wrong side of her defender for receiving Hannah Lay’s driven cross from the right side, Tefft somehow reached out with a right foot ticketed inside the near post.
That 2-1 lead was all the self-professed “second-half” Dragons needed.
“It gives us security,” Chaput said. “When you have a strong offense, you know that they are able to pressure the ball and get to it, and it leaves less work for (the backs) in the end.”
That security works both ways.
Less than 15 minutes into the second half, Morin opened her account by chasing home Elysia Palmer’s tipped free kick from 50 yards out. She added a second to complete the scoring eight minutes from full-time.
“I feel like the one after halftime kind of put away what was going on (for Camden Hills),” Morin said.
Kynli Van Leer added a goal for Brunswick in the 65th minute to make it 4-1 at the time.
Armed with plenty of goals to see through to the victory, the Dragons did what they arguably do best. They defended.
Routinely getting four defenders behind the ball whenever the Windjammers were in possession, the Dragons blocked shots and intercepted passes. What did get through to Sophia Morin (9 saves) typically came from long range and posed no serious threat.
“We’ve been solid all year,” said Brunswick skipper Martyn Davison, who had the Dragons switch from three backs to four early in the season. “We don’t always play the best passing soccer, but we fight. We try. We give everything. We have goals in the team. If you’ve got that basis of solid defense and you can score goals, all you need is the midfield.
“We’re a good team, and I don’t say that every year. But good teams get good results, and they deserve it.”
It was as complete a performance Tuesday as Brunswick could have hoped for with a return trip to the state final at stake.
“Our offense, our defense and our midfield have just worked so well together,” Morin said. “I’m confident in both ends of the field. If the other team’s going for a goal, I know the defense has our back a little bit. But if the ball’s up the field, I know we’re going to finish it.
“I know the ball is going in the back of the net.”
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