Head coach Brian Carlson and his 8-4-1, #15 OSAA ranked BHHS girls varsity soccer team started their post season play Saturday morning, taking on the the #18 OSAA ranked, 9-3-2, McLoughlin Lady Pioneers, who made the 10 hour drive from northeastern Oregon for Saturday mornings game.
Kick-off was on a cool crisp fall Saturday morning, and what would become a battle of wills broke out on Bruin field as both teams looked to control the action from the opening whistle.
It would be early in the first half of play that the constant pressure by the Bruin girls offense broke through a very good defensive gameplan, that again used an offside trap to control the mid-field against Bruin girls who forced the ball down the sidelines before getting the ball in position for a quality shooting opportunity.
Bruin girls junior forward Sophia Bauer, #1, broke down the Lady Pioneers outside defender getting off a shot that would find the back of the net just 6 minutes into the contest, putting the Bruin girls up 1-0.
Within minutes the Bruin girls were in position to score once again, and a desperate McLoughlin defense committed a hand ball foul inside the penalty box. Freshman Ellie Hanneman, #1, calmly stepped into her penalty kick shot, putting it behind the keeper to give the Bruin girls an early 2-0 lead just 11 minutes into the contest.
After a contentious remainder of the first half of play trading possession in the midfield, the Bruin girls started the second half up 2-0 and immediately attacked the Lady Pioneers off-side trap again, taking a McLoughlin mistake in the middle of the field putting Bruin striker Ellie Hanneman into a foot race to the Lady Pioneer goal that she would not only win, but get a shot off that would cross the face of the McLoughlin goal and find the bottom right corner of the net, giving the Bruin girls a commanding 3-0 lead at the 48 minute mark.
A determined McLoughlin team continued to fight to get back into the game, creating scoring opportunities that Bruin girls keeper Dakota Greenwood would push away until the final minutes of the second half, before the Bruin girls committed a hand ball foul in the penalty box giving the Lady Pioneers a late penalty kick that make the final score 3-1, sending the Bruin girls onto the next round.
The win sent the Bruin girls on to round two, and will now make the 8 hour drive Monday traveling to Portland to face off with the #2 ranked, 12-1-2 Catlin Gabel, Lady Eagles team, coming off a first round bye and a tie in their last outing a week ago, with kick-off scheduled at 2:00pm Tuesday afternoon.
