The Bruins boys varsity soccer team was home for an unusual Saturday afternoon contest as the Lost River Raiders came to town with a 6-1 record and their only loss to the St, Mary’s Crusaders early in the season.
The confident Raiders attacked early, eager to establish a physical presence, and ball control in the middle of the field. But the Bruins have benefited from the return of senior Josh Serna, #3, who’s experience and on-field presence has helped the team establish itself both offensively and defensively.
However, that was of no concern to Lost River, who pushed into the Bruin defense relentlessly, forcing the ball forward and keeping the ball in the Bruins defensive half of the field consistently.
After multiple attempts on goal successfully defended by the Bruin back line and freshman goal keeper Wyatt Petrie, the Raiders found the back of the net when a loose ball at the top of the box was collected by a Lost River forward, putting him 1 on 1 with the Bruin keeper just 12:00 minutes into the first half of play.
Just 10:00 minutes later, after another attack on goal, the Raiders earned a corner-kick off of the Bruin defense clearance, and found their forward at the back post for the header, putting Lost River up 2-0 late in the first half.
Serna would return the favor seven minutes later, collecting his own Raider loose ball and finding the goal from 30 yards out on a spectacular long range shot to the upper corner, sending the teams into the half-time break 1-2 Lost River.
The Raiders came out determined to regain control to start the second half, hitting the cross-bar for way outside just 2:00 minutes into play before extending their lead to 1-3 at the 60:00 minute mark.
After the break, senior Josh Serna was no longer a secret to the Raiders, who double teamed him for the rest of the game in an attempt to keep him from shooting again, but the aggressive play would earn Serna a direct free kick just outside the penalty area that he would not miss, making his second goal of the game.
With less than 20:00 minutes left to play the Bruins pushed to even the score which opened the defense to fast break opportunities. The Bruins would commit a foul outside the penalty box and the Raiders would hit the free kick to extend their lead to 2-4 late.
But the Bruin offense and mid-field continued to press, finding their way through the Lost River defense as sophomore Tanner Anderson, #17 put the ball past the Raider keeper from the top of the goalie box closing the gap to 3-4 with less than 10 minutes to play in the game.
The now 3-5 Bruins will be on the road for their next contest, traveling to Cave Junction to take on the 0-7-1 Illinois Valley Cougars, Thursday, October 14th, at 4:00pm.
