Played during a constant, heavy rainfall, the season-opening game for Brunswick School’s lacrosse team couldn’t have been held during much worse weather conditions.

Yet the Bruins couldn’t have played much better in their season-opening matchup against St. Sebastian’s School on Saturday at rain-soaked Cosby Field.

Coming off a highly successful 2023 season in which it advanced to the title game of the Prep National Championships, Brunswick used a six-goal second quarter, effective defensive effort and standout goaltending to register a decisive 12-1 victory over visiting St. Sebastian’s.

After the first quarter ended in a 1-1 tie, the Bruins coasted to a 7-1 halftime lead, before entering the fourth quarter with a commanding 10-1 advantage.

“It was a great season-opener,” said Brunswick coach David Bruce, who has been at the helm since 2007. “It’s nice to get a win against a very good team on a nasty day.”

The Bruins posted an overall record of 13-4 in 2023 and were the co-champions of Western New England Division I, which they have also won in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2022. Two of Brunswick’s losses last season came against Lawrenceville School, one of which occurred in the title game of the Prep National Championships at Cosby Field. The host Bruins held a three-goal fourth quarter lead, but Lawrenceville tied the score to force overtime, then edged Brunswick with a goal in OT, 14-13, in a classic matchup.

Brunswick entered the 2023 season ranked No. 1 in the nation and is once again, among the top-10 teams in the country this spring. A recent Inside Lacrosse Boys High School Top 25 poll has the Bruins ranked No. 6 in the nation and the USA Lacrosse 2024 High School Boys Preseason Poll ranks the Bruins fourth.

“Last year going into the season, we were ranked No. 1 in the country and felt all the pressure that comes with that,” Bruce said. “This year, guys have been working really hard. We had a (preseason) week in Florida and I feel like there is not as much weight on our shoulders right now. We don’t feel that weight this year.”

Captaining the Bruins this spring are seniors Hudson Hausmann, Luke Hublitz, Casey Quinson and Tucker Williams. The talented foursome have competed in a wealth of high-pressured games against nationally-ranked opponents the past several seasons and are embracing their roles as team captains.

“It’s a true honor, the guys select the captains, so I’m grateful that they thought I was the right guy for the job,” said Williams, the Bruins’ starting goalie, who produced a sensational performance in Saturday’s season-opener.

“Being a captain feels good, it’s a very special privilege and honor to lead these guys,” said Quinson, who an attack, who will continue his lacrosse career at Colgate University. “Everyone out here is a leader in their own way.”

In Saturday’s game against Needham Massachusetts-based St. Sebastian’s School, the visitors scored the contest’s first goal, but it was all Bruins thereafter. Senior Syracuse University-bound midfielder/attack Payton Anderson put the pressure on St. Sebastian’s with shots on goal early in the opening quarter, then sophomore attack Lucas Garcia tied the score at 1-1 for the Bruins, converting a shot from the right side from approximately 12 yards out with 1:06 remaining in the quarter.

The hosts took the lead for good when junior Sean Ryan caught a pass that was thrown from behind the net from Quinson and quickly snapped a shot past St. Sebastian’s goalie, putting ‘Wick on top, 2-1 with 6:58 left in the second quarter. From there, the goals came rapidly for the Bruins, who scored three times during a 58-second span.

Sophomore Rick Giordano went low with his shot and tallied at the 6:38 mark of the second quarter, then Quinson scored on a strong run from behind the net, making it 4-1 with 6:08 to go in the second stanza.

“I think we had a really strong game, especially after the first quarter,” said Hausmann, a midfielder, who will play lacrosse at the University of Virginia next season. “The first quarter was a little shaky, but we were able to find our groove and get going.”

Indeed, the Bruins’ offense jelled despite the inclement weather, once the second quarter commenced.

“I thought their goalie played fantastic in the first quarter, we couldn’t figure out how to get it by him,” noted Bruce, who begins the season with a career coaching record of 215-61. “Once we started sticking some shots, our offense felt more comfortable.”

The scoring surge continued for Brunswick during the second quarter. Creating a good shooting angle, Quinson dodged from behind the net and tallied, giving the home team a 5-1 advantage with 3:46 remaining in the second quarter. Hausmann scored off a laser from the right side from 10 yards out at the 1:23 mark of the second period, putting ‘Wick ahead, 6-1, then senior attackman Max Warden scored off a close-range shot with 54.2 seconds still left in the second period, upping the Bruins’ advantage to 7-1.

Brunswick wasn’t done scoring, converting two more shots to end the first half, one of which came at the buzzer, to seize a comfortable 9-1 lead.

“I thought it was a good day, we’ve been preaching all season long that we have to play as a team no matter what and it was a perfect day for it,” Quinson noted. We had to rely on our defense, the defense had to rely on the offense and we got it done in more ways than pretty goals.”

“We had a lot of assisted goals, which is something we prioritized this winter during the spring break trip – just looking for each other,” Quinson added. “Working off each other – not just watching the dodger, is one of the things we’ve been working on, so it was really good.”

While Brunswick flourished offensively, St. Sebastian’s was hard-pressed to generate shots and pressure on its offensive end. Williams, who was a standout in goal for the Bruins one season ago, made a number of impressive saves and was supported by the strong play of defenders such as Hublitz, senior Robert Plath, junior Tucker Spiess, senior Carter Hall, senior Tyler Quake and junior John Buttafuoco.

“We’ve got a lot of great pieces all over the field,” Williams said. “We’ve got a great defense with guys all over the field making plays, so it makes my life easier.”

Hublitz was pleased with what he saw from the squad’s defensive unit against a formidable first-game foe.

“We knew that we had studs on the defense that would be one of the strengths of our team, so holding our first game to one goal is like a dream to the defense,” said Hublitz, who will take his lacrosse skills to the University of Virginia next season. “Holding a team to one goal is awesome, a lot of credit to Tucker Williams, he had a few stuffs right up close. But really, it’s a dream for a defense. There really isn’t a better way to start off the season, holding a team to one goal. We just have to build off of that and not let up.”

“Our defense did an amazing job of locking down,” Bruce added. “When they did get an opening, Tucker came through.”

Junior Aidan Diaz-Matos enabled the Bruins to consistently maintain possession, winning the majority of the faceoffs he took throughout the matchup.

“It’s been truly special to be back out there with my guys,” Williams noted. “It’s great, we had a super good team effort. The defense looked amazing, our faceoff guy was great. It’s a great way to start the season and we’re looking forward to the next. Guys were making plays all over the field, you can’t ask for more from them.”

Bruce appreciates his captains and the leadership he has noticed from all of the squad’s seniors.

“We have a great senior group in general,” he said. “Our seniors are going to definitely take the lead. We have a lot of young guys who are playing positions and getting time who didn’t get a lot of time last year. There are a lot of question marks and moving pieces.”

The second half saw the Bruins seal their dominant win with two more goals, while shutting out the visitors. Throughout the matchup, ‘Wick displayed its depth at each position.

“We have a lot of young guys this year, which is great,” Hausmann said. “We’ve got some older guys this year, who are great. We have a bunch of sophomores in the midfield who are going to help us out this year and they’re going to be strong players for us. Once they get their confidence, going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Bruce noted that Quinson, Hausmann and Anderson should pace the offense, with numerous athletes also contributing on both ends of the field.

“We didn’t keep the same attack in for more than a quarter,” he said. “We were running guys both through the midfield and attack to find what works best for us. Key defensemen graduated from last year, but we feel really good about our defense. We feel like we can lock teams down and hopefully, as long as we don’t get over aggressive and create opportunities for them, we’re going to keep the scoring low this year.”

Twelve of last season’s seniors are playing lacrosse in college, including 2023 captains Tomas Delgado (playing lacrosse at Duke University), Luke Michalik (Yale University) and Hunter Spiess (Princeton).

“Our biggest strength is our team as a whole,” Hausmann noted. “Whoever we play we feel that we are going to be able to work together better as a unit. Every game we go into, it’s not going to be one guy on our team that’s going to win us the game. We need everyone to be clicking and that’s how we’re going to win games this year.”

The Bruins are back in action Wednesday when they host Radnor High School at 4:30 p.m. They will then travel to rival Deerfield Academy on Saturday, before hosting non-conference rival Darien High School on April 4 at 6:30 p.m. A home game against Loomis Chaffee School follows on April 6, completing the Bruins’ first two weeks of their season.

“We have a chip on our shoulder this year,” Hublitz said. “We have as strong a schedule as ever this year. Even our next few games are really tough. We’ve just got to know that we can’t overlook any game. We have to take every game one-by-one and not look over any team.”

“To be the best, we’re pushing each other every day in practice,” Williams added. “We’re trying to go undefeated, be the best in the country and have fun doing it.”