Rain seemed imminent as clouds began to gather from the forecast storm on the horizon, and two very well prepared teams stepped onto the pitch at Brookings-Harbor High School for a first round elimination game to advance in the post season tournament.
The 12-1, 3A/2A/1A-SD4 Special District 4 champion Bruins, ranked #4 by OSAA, were awarded home field advantage for Wednesdays first round play-off game. The 4-7-2 #32 ranked Santiam Christian Eagles traveled 5 hours from Adair Village, OR, to Brookings for Wednesday afternoons match-up and were prepared for a defensive battle to keep the high scoring Bruin offense off the scoreboard and themselves in the game.
Both teams came into the game having played their latest contest last Thursday, October 28th, and had spent the last week fine tuning their games. The Bruin offensive attack controlled play in the first half, spreading the field from touchline to touchline, predominantly in the Eagle half of the field.
Santiam Christian played a true off-side trap, disguised by a sweeper allowing the Eagles to hold the speed of the Bruin offense close to mid-field, while giving their defense opportunities to isolate Bruin players and clear out loose balls.
But after 20 minutes of play, where the Bruins could not capitalize on multiple scoring opportunities, freshman offensive mid-fielder Tanner Anderson #4, gathered up a loose ball at the left edge of the penalty box and put the ball past the Eagle keeper for the first goal of the game, putting the Bruins up 1-0.
The Bruins continued to push the Eagle defense back into their own end, but the Santiam Christian defense refused to allow open opportunities to the Bruin offense and clearing second shot opportunities out of range, going into the half with the Bruins leading 1-0.
The second half of play began with both teams regrouping, and continuing their game plans with limited if any adjustments. The Eagle defense continued to use their off-side trap effectively as the Bruins consistently pushed the defense back to their goal face, missing shot opportunities, and hitting the woodwork leaving the score 1-0.
At the 48 minute mark, Bryan Valdovinos #21 fought his way through a Bruin fast break opportunity and beat the defender, putting the shot on goal to finish the fast break and put the Bruins up 2-0.
But Santium Christian was not done, and rallied, pressuring the Bruin defense back to their penalty box, and a ball loose in the left half of the penalty box was gathered by an Eagle forward and shot into the right corner of the goal, putting the Eagles on the board 2-1 59 minutes in.
With half of the second half already gone, facing a 2-1 deficit, the Eagle defense turned up the intensity, costing them a penalty kick after a foul in the penalty box. Senior Fabian Villa stepped up to the penalty spot, hitting the shot to put the Bruins up 3-1 with 16 minutes left in the game.
Again Santium Christian turned up the pressure, overplaying attacks and loose balls as the Bruins looked to stretch the field to create scoring opportunities as time ticked down. Desperation and intensity increased, and the Eagles worked their way into the Bruin goal box, putting a final shot on goal and saved by Bruin goalkeeper, junior Kyle Burger, turning away the Eagles chance to tie the game with just over a minute left to play.
After the final whistle blew, we talked with Bruin head coach Jess Beaman about the win. “I’m very proud of the kids for controlling the game, playing hard the entire game, communicating and passing well.” he said. “But, we need to work on finishing..,” he continued, “the score does not reflect the many chances that we missed… we need to capitalize on our opportunities.”
With the 3-2 victory, the Bruins retain home field advantage, and now host the second round match-up in Brookings Saturday, November 6th, against the #5 ranked Oregon Episcopal Aardvarks, who will be traveling from Portland. “I am looking forward to a tough game Saturday, and have confidence this hardworking group of young men will prevail.”
