The Branham Bruins, playing in their shiny new white jerseys, moved past visiting Prospect in BVAL rankings with a 2-0 win Thursday afternoon. While the Bruin defense remained strong throughout the game, the offense capitalized on two Panther mistakes early in the second half for the victory.
“It was a great win for us,” said Branham coach Danny Kadah. “Prospect was a team that we were chasing in the league standings coming in, but I think we executed really well and deserved the win.”
Seven minutes into the second half, off of a throw-in from senior center back Kyle Shikashio, junior forward Cole Elliott managed to head the ball into the right side of the goal to make it 1-0.
“Well, I was just trying to flick it back to one of our players, and it just skipped off my head to the right,” said Elliott. “The goalie happened to be shorter, so it worked in our favor.”
“We made a mistake, and they capitalized on it,” said Prospect coach Frank Medina. “We should have had more focus in the box off of the throw-in.”
Just four minutes later, the next Branham shot also resulted in a goal. Senior forward Daniel Trout, stuck on the right side of the field, was able to pass back to the open Daniel Flores. With no defensive pressure, Flores was able to easily get the ball into the goal from a few short feet away.
“It was pretty easy,” said Flores. “I was pretty confident, because I was open. I was like Messi.”
“I think that we should have passed the ball back to the goalkeeper instead of turning it over to the forwards,” Medina said. “That would have allowed our defense to get back together.”
With a strong defense and midfield, Branham was able to take control of possession. Throughout the game, the Bruins were able to take 16 shots, 10 of which were on target. On the other hand, Prospect was only able to take 11 shots, five of which were on target.
“Our offense was rough today,” Medina said. “I thought that until the last 18-20, we didn’t generate enough attack. Once they started pushing and pressing, they generated a little bit more.”
Although Prospect’s offense was unable to capitalize on opportunities, Kadah credited the Bruins back line, particularly the center of the defense.
“Defense has been our strength all season,” Kadah said. “Kyle Shikashio is just a rock back there. Same with Jeff Powers. Those two guys anchor the whole team. We depend so heavily on those two guys, and I think that’s really been our key to success this season.”
With this win, Branham (5-3-4, 3-1-2, 11 points in BVAL-ST) moves into third place in the BVAL Santa Teresa Division, while Prospect (5-6-1, 3-3-0, 9 points) drops to fourth. The top two teams receive an automatic bid to the CCS playoffs.
“This loss is going to make it tougher for us,” Medina said. “We were in third place and they were in fourth, and now they jump us, but this group can do it.”
