BRUNSWICK — Edward Little forward Taylor Landry found herself all alone in front of the net after stealing the ball from Brunswick goaltender Haley Murano in a scoreless first half of girls soccer.

On a cool, windy Tuesday afternoon, the Red Eddies had the break they were looking for, with nothing but a wide open net in front of the EL sniper.

But, the hard turf caused Landry to lose possession momentarily, and Dragons defender Lyse Henshaw sent the ball into orbit and out of danger.

It was a good break for the hosts, who reeled off two consecutive goals and held on for a 2-1 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win, leaving both teams with 3-3 records.

The Red Eddies return to action on Thursday at home against Brewer, while Brunswick heads to Skowhegan on Friday.

Scoreless midway through the second half, Brunswick cashed in when standout Anna Cowan finally finished off a chance, beating EL goaltender Molly Murray (16 saves) for a 1-0 lead with 14:13 remaining.

“She (Cowan) made a great play, but we had our chances, especially in the first half,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said . “We score early, you never know. It might very well have changed the complexity of the game. Would I have liked a 0-0 tie, or 2-2 tie? Sure! But, these girls worked hard, and if they keep playing like that, we will be OK.”

“I was frustrated, but I knew that I had to keep my cool,” said Cowan, who had several chances sail high of the target. “I was able to get some shots, but it is tough sometimes for me to keep the ball from going over the net with tendinitis in my legs.”

Strong wind

With a strong wind at their backs in the opening frame, the Dragons struggled with their passing, with Murray coming well away from her goal to either grab the ball or use her right leg to send the ball out of danger.

“I don’t know why they were doing that, and I don’t coach that, but I know they were aware of the wind,” said Brunswick coach Martyn Davison of his team’s first half struggles.

Brunswick’s best chance came on a shot by Lena Martin, whose high chip solidly struck the cross bar to keep the contest scoreless.

“We passed the ball well, but we are not putting the ball into the net,” said Davison, whose Dragons have tallied just 10 goals through six games. “We need to finish better, knowing that this game, if they score early it maybe is a different game.”

Landry, a standout in girls’ hockey, stepped in front of a Murano clear and gathered the ball inside the penalty area. As Landry was about to score the game’s first goal with two minutes remaining until halftime, the ball bounced up and caught her shin pad. This gave Henshaw just enough time to step in and clear the ball away while Landry desperately tried to regain possession.

Going into the wind in the second half, Brunswick dominated possession, outshooting the Red Eddies 18-5 in the frame and 27-9 in the game.

Cowan had three golden opportunities early in the half to break the scoreless deadlock, with each shot rising over the cross bar. She kept at it, gathering a pass from Kassidy Scarponi, darting left and firing back to her right and into the goal.

“It is easier when we are going into the wind,” said Cowan. “Nothing was working for us, but when we scored it settled us down.”

Nine minutes later, a corner kick by Scarponi was gathered by Martin, who made no mistake to give the Dragons a 2-0 lead with 5:44 remaining.

“As soon as we scored that first goal, we looked like a different team,” said Davison. “Confidence for this team makes a huge difference, especially after the tough start that we have had.”

The Red Eddies refused to go away. Calli Murray sent a pass to Emily Jacques, who headed the ball past Murano (four saves).

“It was a nice serve there from Calli,” said Jacques of her goal with 3:52 remaining in regulation. “We wanted to give Brunswick a good game today. They are a good team, and I think we did good as a team. We are coming together as a team, much better than we have in the past. I like where we are.”

“My girls played pretty well today,” said Latuscha. “We kept them outside, knowing that would make it very difficult to score. We had them. Just a break here or there, and we are right there.”

Brunswick held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Dragon defenders Henshaw, Aidan Sachs, Emily Cowan and Madeline Cowan played well, along with midfielders Nicholson and Julia Champagne.

For EL, Morgan Knowlton, Hannah Smith, Danny Rock, Emily Schario and Olivia Jensen played solid defense.

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