The Bradford Owls have certainly made Parkway Field a miserable place for opposing teams of late.
The Owls have not allowed a goal at home in over 240 minutes, as they pushed their winning streak to three games with a 2-0 victory over Warren on Wednesday evening.
As most Warren-Bradford matchups have been over the past several seasons, it was a competitive battle all the way through.
But with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, Bradford’s Ian Grady potted the game’s first goal and teammate Cadyn Sutherland added another with less than two minutes before halftime to give the Owls all the scoring they would need.
“Warren is a great, well-coached team that I have a lot of respect for,” Bradford coach Wes Lohrman said. “It’s nice to have a game of this magnitude and have the guys come out and be able to play the full 80 minutes.”
Bradford (6-2) has now won its last three games by a combined 24-0.
Warren (3-3-1) put plenty of pressure on the Owls in the second half, but Bradford did not sit back and wait for the final whistle. It was a game plan that Lohrman made sure his guys understood at the halftime break.
“My biggest fear against a team like this is leading at halftime and coming out and saying, ‘We got this,’ and then they come right at you” Lohrman said. “We are not going to sit back and we are going to put on pressure. We are going to try to make the other teams work through us and work our way through them.”
The Dragons had plenty of opportunities, but were turned away by some solid defense and Bradford’s Evan Schmidt. The junior goalie recorded the clean sheet in net with 16 saves, including a few tough ones to start the second half.
Along with Schmidt, the Owls defenders had another solid outing in front of him. It’s been a group effort with every player contributing something to the stellar defense lately, according to Lohrman.
“They are working together as a group and playing well,” he said. “We have six strong players back there who are relatively interchangeable. In addition to the back, our middle line is providing pressure in that middle third and making it difficult for players to get through.”
On the offensive end, Grady and Sutherland’s first half goals continue a white-hot streak for the two players. Grady’s tally gave him five over the past three games, while Sutherland has nine goals over the same span.
“I was talking to those guys before the game and told them that obviously we need them to continue their scoring streak and they both stepped up today,” Lohrman said. “It’s exactly what we need from a 9 and a 10. I was happy for them and happy for the team.”
Grady’s goal came on a nice feed from Rob Jimmerson. From there, the goal-scorer dribbled around a few defenders and buried a shot from the 12-yard line.
“I don’t always know how he does it,” Lohrman said. “The ball kind of sticks to his fit and it was awkward watching him try to get through three players but once he got to that back line and got past that defensive group he had a great finish.”
Sutherland’s goal came on a tough angle shot that was able to handcuff the goalie and sneak inside the back post.
Bradford’s win streak will be put to the test on Saturday with a tough road trip to DuBois (7-1). The Beavers knocked off the Owls 2-1 earlier this month, but Lohrman is understandably excited with how his has turned up their play in recent games.
“All the way through everybody on our roster who came in to the game did their jobs and their responsibilities,” he said. “I am very pleased with how we’ve been playing and the effort of all the guys we put out there.”
Bradford and Warren JV played to a 0-0 tie on Wednesday. Gavin Piscatelli recorded six saves as the Owls moved to 1-1-1 on the year.
