Brandon finishes off 3-0 Flint Metro League win over Holly
HOLLY » The Brandon Blackhawks knocked off the Holly Bronchos, 3-0, in a Flint Metro League girls soccer contest Wednesday evening.
The Blackhawks dominated the first half, controlling the ball and pushing Holly back in their own repeatedly. All that pressure paid off with a pair of goals. Emily Bourn opened the scoring with 25:27 left in the first half when she chipped a 25-yard free kick into the top right corner to make it 1-0 Brandon. The Blackhawks doubled their lead to 2-0 with 7:39 remaining when Eleonor Cox simply unleashed a shot from 40 yards out on the right wing that found the far corner.
“The girls have really been trying to work hard on that (finishing),” Blackhawks head coach Rich Puleo said. “Today was probably one of the better days where we would build up, controlled up front, and try to maintain control in that offensive third of the field.”
Holly’s defense, anchored by Amber McDowell, was solid; but the continued pressure along with some quality finishing eventually produced goals for the Blackhawks.
“I thought our defense, even though we lost 3-0, I think our defense does a pretty good job,” Bronchos head coach Bryan Kowalik said. “That seems to be the strength of our team.”
The Bronchos found their offense in the second half. Holly had more pressure and came close on a couple of occasions in the second half. But Piper Kraft was unbeatable in the Brandon net. Her best save was a spectacular leaping punch to push a shot wide that appeared labeled for the top right corner.
“Unfortunately, we seem to be becoming a second half team. I don’t know why we don’t’ do that in the first half. I have to give it up to their goalie. That was an incredible save,” Kowalik said. “But we’re young. We’ve got to learn from it.”
The Brandon defense led by Bourn and Kylie Frantz also turned in a solid game in front
of Kraft.
The Blackhawks put the game away with 26:16 to play. Brandon earned a corner kick, and Jordyn Venner scrambled a loose ball that was pinging around the six-yard box into the net to complete the scoring.
With the win, Brandon improves to 5-7-2 overall and 2-6 in Flint Metro League play. After a slow start to the year, the Blackhawks have gone 4-2-1 in their last seven games. The Blackhawks will look to continue their late season push when they travel to Almont Thursday for a non-conference game.
“We’ve started winning a few. The girls have played well, but the big challenge we run into is when you get players go down, and you get them hurt. We’re in every game, but then the second half we get a couple players down and you don’t have the staffing to maintain,” Puleo said. “But in general, I think for the full season our record doesn’t show the kind of team we are. I think the girls are extremely talented and play well together.”
Holly slips to 3-8-1 overall and 2-6-1 in league play. The Bronchos have some time off before hosting Goodrich next Tuesday in another Flint Metro League contest.