On a picture perfect early Saturday afternoon, head coach Joey Silveria and his #16 OSAA ranked BHHS Bruin boys varsity soccer team started their post-season play hosting the Santiam Christian Eagles who rolled into Brookings after a 5 hour drive from just south of Salem, bringing with them their #24 OSAA ranking and 9-4-1 record, and coming into the game on a two game win streak.
At the opening whistle, two confident teams immediately aggressively attacked each other defenses, exchanging advances deep into the others defensive backfields, and getting off quality shots putting the other on notice, that this was not going to be an easy afternoon.
Both teams forced a short field, pushing their defenses to half field, forcing play in close quarters as they looked to extend the field with fast break attempts to get behind the others defense. But the Bruin speed caught the Eagles off guard, and with concentrated efforts to beat Santiam Christian in foot races to the goal, it stretched the Eagle back line deep, and after a turnover at mid-field, senior Wyatt Harm, #14, moved the ball just outside the penalty box before sending a quick pass between defenders putting junior forward #17, Tanner Anderson, in position to get a shot off that beat the Eagle keeper low, putting the Bruins up 1-0 in the blink of an eye at the 30 minute mark of the first half.
Now trailing 1-0 to start the second half after an intense back and forth battle as Santiam Christian desperately looked to tie the score before the end of first half, the Eagles halftime adjustment was to take every opportunity to get shots off on goal, taking shots from everywhere and anywhere close to the penalty box.
It only took 7 minutes for the odds to fall in their favor after an Eagle forward hit a hard shot from the left side of the penalty box, finding its way past Bruin keeper RJ Hendrix, to tie the score at 1-1 with more than 30 minutes left to play in the second half.
The powerful shot and unlikely goal was a message to the Bruin defense that any open opportunities in front of the goal were going to be quality shots, and the Bruin defense responded, closing the gap and attacking Eagle players on the pass, not allowing quick shots, testing Santiam Christian ball handling skills resulting in loose balls and mistakes.
And then, on a Bruin attack deep into the left side of the Eagle defense, Bruin sophomore #7, Neric Garcia, took a page out of the Eagle forwards play book that took the outside shot earlier to tie the score, and said watch this, ripping a left footed shot on the half volley from 28 yards out, burying it in the upper right hand corner of the net, surprising the Eagle keeper and stunning the Santiam Christian defense with an incredible almost impossible shot to defend.
Now with a 2-1 lead and the large crowd now weighing in on every play, the Bruin defense sat back and shut down every Eagle attack as Santiam Christian frantically pushed every opportunity down in front of the Bruin goal. But the Bruin defense, dedicated to no open looks at the goal, held for the remainder of an action packed second half, taking the 2-1 win and moving on to the second round post-season play.
With that win, the Bruins now travel 8 hours to McLoughlin in upper eastern Oregon to take on the #3 OSAA ranked McLoughlin Pioneers, Wednesday afternoon at 1:00pm.
