Coming into Tuesday afternoons match up between the Douglas Trojans and the Brookings-Harbor Bruin varsity boys soccer, it was clear that Douglas did their homework. The Douglas Trojans clearly singled out Wendy’s Athlete of the Week Bruins senior Luke Beaman #13 and attempted to not allow him to control the ball or get a clean look at the goal with one on one and double-team coverage.
The tactic worked for much of the game as they frustrated Beaman everytime he touched the ball with a defender at his feet. The tactic threw him off his timing and control, but the Bruins are more than that, as Beaman used his teammates around him when the double team came, hitting the open man and drawing the defense away from other players.
The Bruins adjusted, and as is their game, the ball was in the Trojan half of the field almost the entire game. It took 37 minutes for the Bruins to break down the Douglas defense and get their first goal of the match as freshman Fabian Villa #21 found the back of the net with just 3:00 minutes left in the half.
The Bruins pounced after the score and quickly attacked again pushing the Douglas defense against their own goal, ultimately giving up a wicked outside shot from senior captain #8 Roman Worthey that hit the crossbar, ricocheting over the goal line for a 2-0 lead at the half.
As Luke Beamans frustration continued into the second half, the advantage went to junior Jair Valdovinos #7 who worked hard to beat his defender and break free for two quick goals in the first 17:00 minutes of the second half, taking the heart out of the Trojans putting them down 4-0.
Valdovinos was not quite done as he added an assist to his line when he crossed the ball across the face of the goal finding freshman Fabian Villa #21 for his second goal of the game.
Luke Beaman fought hard, taking his shots and making his passes, but the pesky game plan to never give him a free moment clearly affected his timing and caused him to lift his head on his shots and passes. This continued to frustrate him as his normally very accurate passes and shots veered off because he was not watching the ball leave his foot. However, his determination would pay off when Fabian Villa hit Beaman with a well-passed breakaway down the center from just outside the penalty box that Beaman would bury behind the keeper, getting into the score book with just 10 minutes left to play.
The Bruin defense continued to dominate, again not allowing a cohesive Douglas attack into the Bruin defensive half of the field. The middle defenders, senior Zach Carlson, and senior Austin Fronckowiak have proven to be a formidable force in front of the Bruin goal and have been an integral part of a defense that has given goalkeeper Juan Hernandez his 5th shut-out on the season. In fact, Hernandez is yet to be scored on in league play, and as a result of the great defense in front of him, the Wild Coast Compass has not had an opportunity to provide any photos of the keeper in action.
The Bruin varsity boys will play again next Tuesday October 2nd in their second match-up of the season against the 1-4 Coquille / Myrtle Point Red Devils at home at 5:00 pm.
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