BROCKWAY — The Bradford boys soccer team was able to get back to the top of the mountain in District 9 in 2018 with their first district title in three years. Unfortunately, the Owls weren’t able to reach an even higher peak in the state tournament.
Bradford fell to WPIAL runner-up West Allegheny 4-1 in Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAA 1st round match at Brockway’s Frank Varischetti Field.
A pair of West Allegheny goals in the early portion of the second half helped seal the victory and prevent the Owls from notching their first program victory at the state level.
“We knew coming into the state level we were going to be facing the best that the state has to offer,” Bradford coach Wes Lohrman said. “West Allegheny typically finds themselves in this situation. It took them some time to get adjusted to the field and to the environment and I think that’s when he had our best opportunities and we needed to capitalize on those to maybe change the tide of the game.”
Bradford was under pressure early and often, as the Indians dominated possession for most of the first half. With the Owls’ defense on its heels, goalkeeper Evan Schmidt was called on to make key saves, and he was up to the challenge.
Schmidt made a particularly great save just five minutes into the match, going full extension to make a fingertip save to prevent West A from getting on the board early.
But Bradford was able to hold up against the onslaught and eventually began to come up with some scoring opportunities of its own.
However, it was West A that would find the back of the net first, as Will Douglas took advantage of some poor marking by Bradford when he shot from in front of the net and scored with 18:07 left in the half.
The Owls would answer in the last five minutes of the half when Ian Grady found the back of the net. After a cross from Jason French made its way towards the Indians’ goalkeeper, Grady went up and headed the ball forward just enough to tickle the twine.
It wasn’t the prettiest-looking goal in the world, but it was the kind of opportunity Lohrman knew his team would need to take advantage of against such a strong team.
“We knew that we were going to be under pressure and we knew that we might not be able to score the prettiest goals tonight and we were willing to take any type of goal that we were able to get,” Lohrman said. “Jason got us started there getting into a dangerous position and get the ball in and Ian was able to get up and get it. It wasn’t pretty; it was an aggressive goal and he put it in.”
But West Allegheny responded quickly, retaking the lead less than two minutes later when Douglas scored his second goal of the night. Once again, the Indians forward took advantage of an opening in front of the net to send West A into the half with a 2-1 lead.
Despite the late goal, Bradford had to feel good about its play despite the large gap in possession.
But West Allegheny’s ability to play keepaway began to pay dividends even more in the second half.
“They definitely became comfortable with the playing surface and they were working the ball a little bit better than they had started off the game with,” Lohrman said about the play in the second half.
The Indians were able to draw a penalty kick with seven minutes gone in the half, and Nathan Dragisich converted on the opportunity to make it 3-1 West Allegheny.
The lead became three midway through the half when Evan Blunkosky scored off of his own rebound to give West Allegheny even more breathing room.
Despite the four goals allowed, Lohrman was pleased with the effort and intensity of his defense and goalkeeper.
“I was very pleased with how he played,” Lohrman said of Schmidt. “Evan made a couple of big saves. I know the last one he felt a little bad about but he made a great initial save and we just didn’t have anybody to come and clear the line.
“Again, it’s the last 16; when you make mistakes against teams that can finish and capitalize, you’re going to struggle.”
Lohrman also noted that the fourth goal — which gave the Indians a three-score advantage with 20 minutes to go — served as a knockout punch to his team’s chances.
“We were kinda close; we were hanging in there,” he said. “A two-goal deficit is something that we can overcome, but when they took that three-goal lead, that kinda knocks the wind out of you. I think that was the changing point. We didn’t stop playing but a three-goal deficit with 20 minutes left to play is a large gap to make up.”
While the Owls are still looking to make a run at the state level, they can take pride in knowing that they are once again District 9 Champions. This title is especially sweet since it marks the first district title for Bradford since it moved up to Class AAA in 2016.
“It’s nice to be back and it’s nice to be able to bring that plaque back home,” Lohrman said. “We went through two years when we jumped up in classification and we had strong competition for playoffs. We can clearly say with this plaque now that we’re being challenged and when you win it, it makes it that much more special.”
After the game, Lohrman took a moment alone with his seniors — a group made up of Jason French, Cadyn Sutherland, Colin Haskins, Mike Bosworth, Rob Jimmerson, Brett Degolier, and manager Easton Rinfrette — to mark their last time on a high school field together.
“I’m very proud of all of these guys, whether they were in the starting 11, whether they were in the back six coming off the bench to support the players,” Lohrman said. “Everybody worked at every practice. Everybody showed up every day and did everything I asked.”
