The Brunswick School lacrosse team, ranked 13th in the latest Inside Lacrosse national poll, fought off a determined Avon Old Farms squad on Wednesday, 7-6, for its eighth-straight win.
With the victory, the Bruins improve to 13-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
The Bruins opened the game with a goal by Griffin Gelinas. Brunswick added two more in the quarter including a tally by Alex Buckanavage at 6:49.
Gelinas capped the quarter with a goal set-up by Buckanavage, for a 3-0 lead.
Avon made it a 3-2 game after a pair of goals in the second, before the Bruins ended the half with a three-goal burst. Buckanavage started the run with a goal at 5:02, followed by solo tallies by Harrison Caponiti and Reilly Walsh, giving Brunswick a 6-2 lead at intermission.
The Winged Beavers chipped away at the Brunswick lead in the third quarter, scoring the only two goals of the frame.
Trailing 6-4 in the fourth, Avon made it a one-goal contest at 9:31.
Buckanavage responded with his hat trick goal less than a minute later, giving the hosts a 7-5 lead with 8:49 left to play.
Avon made it a 7-6 game at the 2:00 mark, and won the ensuing face-off.
Following Winged Beavers time-out at 1:23, Avon turned the ball over in front of the Brunswick net. Brunswick cleared the ball and called its own time out with 1:00 left to play.
However, the Bruins turned the ball over and were whistled for a 30 second penalty, giving Avon a man-up opportunity with 47.3 seconds left in regulation.
The Winged Beavers spun the ball around the Bruins’ cage, but never managed a shot on goal with the man-up opportunity. In the waning seconds of the game, Avon turned the ball over, as Brunswick earned the 7-6 win.
Jack Stephenson collected five saves in the win, as Ben Shapiro won 11/16 face-offs. John Fox and Max Fuld each collected a team-best three ground balls.
