Ranked No. 1 in the nation, Brunswick School’s lacrosse team knows its going to get each opponent’s optimum effort and such was the case when Hill Academy from Canada visited Cosby Field on Tuesday for a much-anticipated matchup.

The Bruins, who entered the game undefeated, found themselves in an unfamiliar situation, facing a three-goal deficit following the first quarter of play.

Yet as the Bruins are known to do, they quickly turned the momentum in their favor and turned back another opponent.

By halftime, Brunswick held a one-goal lead, an advantage it built upon in the second half on its way to registering an impressive 19-10 triumph at Cosby Field.

Their latest decisive win raised the Bruins record to a perfect 9-0 heading into Friday’s road game against Trinity-Pawling School. Brunswick is ranked No. 1 in the USA Lacrosse High School Top 25 poll.

In Tuesday’s showdown against a tough Hill Academy squad, Brunswick senior captain Hudson Hausmann scored a team-high five goals, while sophomore Rick Giordano also powered the attack, tallying four times.

Brunswick trailed 4-1 after the first quarter and went into halftime with a hard-fought 8-7 lead against Hill Academy.

“All we did was we self reflected at halftime,” Hausmann said. “We realized that first half isn’t the team that we want to be. We got a little complacent.”

“There’s a lot that comes with being ranked No. 1 as we saw last year,” Hausmann continued. “We have to realize that a ranking is just a ranking and we have to play our team offense, our team defense and we came out really strong and it was a really great second half.”

Senior Payton Anderson recorded a hat trick, while Lucas Garcia scored two goals for Brunswick, which imposed its will on Hill Academy – especially in the second half. Casey Quinson, a senior captain, powered the Bruins’ offense as well, notching three goals.

“We had to start realizing that we had to work as a team. It started with a couple of plays,” Quinson said. “We were using picks, we were moving the ball and talking, especially on defense. Once the goals started dropping, we rode that momentum.”

After Brunswick scored the game’s first goal, Hill Academy responded with four consecutive tallies, while holding the home team scoreless the rest of the opening quarter, to take a three-goal advantage. Brunswick’s offense found its rhythm in the second quarter, however.

Goals by Hausmann and Giordano cut Hill’s lead to 5-3 with 7:06 remaining in the second quarter. Giordano converted another perimeter shot and Quinson tallied, giving the Bruins a 6-5 edge at the 5:05 mark of the second period.

Anderson added a key second-quarter goal as the hosts led at the break, 8-7.

“They came out and were fired up,” Brunswick coach David Bruce said of Hill Academy. “We knew they were going to be really good, we just couldn’t get our legs and our effort going for the first quarter. Then we came out and started really playing well.”

The Bruins rolled in the third quarter, with Hausmann getting the frame going in the right direction, netting two goals the first 51 seconds. From there, Brunswick was difficult for their foes from Canada to defend.

The offense the first half we were getting some things, but I think we were trying to force some things,” Hausmann said. “The second half, we opened it up, got the ball spinning and that’s when we play our best offense – when we can dodge, we can move it behind, get the defense spinning their heads and then some guy re-attacks and we can bury a couple.”

Sophomore Matthew Colella had one goal, senior Max Warden posted one goal and one assist and junior Sean Ryan registered a goal in the winning effort.

“Credit Hill, they play well in transition, they’ve got a lot of guys who are crafty with the ball and it was one of those fun games – lots of goals,” Bruce noted. “We had a lot of guys playing well, Hudson played a great game, Rick had a breakout game.”

Defensively, the Bruins locked down in the second half, yielding only three goals. Senior goalie/captain Tucker Williams finished the game with seven saves for the Bruins, who received key possessions throughout, courtesy of faceoff man Aidan Diaz-Matos, a junior.

Diaz-Matos won more than 20 faceoffs during the matchup at Cosby Field.

“The first half was a little sloppy, the transition was a little slow in picking up some guys,” said Brunswick senior defender/captain Luke Hublitz, who helped spark the squad’s effective defensive effort. “But we allowed only three goals in the second. We made adjustments for their transition and everyone stepped up in the second half, which was great. Since last year, we know we can’t look over any team.”

Indeed, it was quite a turnaround for the Bruins after being limited to one goal in the first quarter.

“I’m really proud of this group of guys,” said Williams, who had another strong game in goal. “We’ve been down a couple of times this season and every time we’ve battled back. I’m just really proud of how the guys rallied together and managed to come back from that and put up a good score.”

Being the country’s No. 1 high school lacrosse team in the country comes with pressure, but Brunswick has handled it well. The opposition also enters each matchup against the Bruins with added motivation.

“We are taking it one game at a time and treating every team like they are the best team in the country,” Williams said.

Said Quinson: “We are always going to get everyone’s best. We have a long season and we’re trying our best not to look at that ranking, because we know we are playing a lot of really good teams. That ranking doesn’t mean as much until the end of the season.”

“It’s all about weathering that storm early, everyone is going to come out with the first punch,” Quinson added. “It’s about taking that and giving it right back.”