It certainly wasn’t the best of Bradford’s performances this season, but at the end of the day, it got the job done.
The Owls topped Meadville 2-0 at Parkway Field Wednesday to complete a season sweep of the Bulldogs in District 10 Region 5 play on a night where not a lot was going right for the potent Bradford squad.
Bradford (10-3, 6-1) outshot Meadville (4-8, 2-5) by a wide margin — 35-6 in all — and put 10 shots on goal as compared to the Bulldogs’ two. In addition, the Owls drew 12 corner kicks to Meadville’s one.
Despite the high volume of shots and chances, though, the Owls — which were averaging just over seven goals per game entering the contest — managed to finish just twice, and in between those scores, the offense was plagued with miscues and turnovers. It was a stark contrast from Bradford’s 7-1 victory over Meadville earlier this season.
“It’s good to get the victory, and we did enough to get that,” Bradford head coach Wes Lohrman said. “But ultimately, I think my biggest takeaway from today was that our passing was not where we need it to be at this point in the season.”
The chances were there early and often for Bradford. Just 40 seconds into the game, the Owls had a point blank look at the net, but the shot sailed wide. It was the story of a frustrating first half, as Bradford put up 22 shots in total, with six on goal, but managed to take just a 1-0 lead into the half.
The Owls had their breakthrough on the scoreboard at the 22:10 mark, when Gavin McGee took a cross from Ryan Miller. His initial shot bounced off Meadville goalkeeper Mark Conrad’s hands, but McGee finished on the rebound to give Bradford a 1-0 lead.
After that goal, Bradford had a few more opportunities go wide of the net, and Meadville controlled possession in spurts down the stretch of the half. The Owls, however, managed to prevent any real looks at the net for the Bulldogs to preserve the 1-0 advantage into the break.
The second half saw much of the same. Bradford put up 13 shots after halftime compared to Meadville’s five, but punched the ball into net just once.
That came at the 17:53 mark when Miller got behind the Bulldog defense and found Alex Marrone on an angled pass. Marrone did the rest and scored to push Bradford’s lead to 2-0.
“They did exactly what we had asked from them in practice,” Lohrman said. “They got the ball to the wing, found space in behind (the defense), and Ryan used a back angle pass, and we had depth. If we had done that a little more tonight, we would have had a couple more in the back of the net.”
Fortunately for Bradford, the two goals were all that was needed for a victory. The Owl defense held Meadville mostly in check throughout the contest, and even when things broke down defensively, goalkeeper Evan Schmidt made key saves to keep Bradford out in front.
In the first half, Meadville didn’t even get a shot off until the 15:39 mark. Then, in the second half, the Owl defense allowed just five shots, two of which were on goal.
The biggest breakdown came when Meadville broke loose on a 2-on-1 opportunity with 29 minutes to go in the game and the Owls clinging to a 1-0 lead. But Bradford quickly recovered, and in fact, did not allow a shot on the play, to keep the advantage.
When shots did get off for Meadville, Owl goalkeeper Evan Schmidt was sure-handed.
Schmidt finished with four saves on the night, and perhaps none was bigger than the one that came at the 4:18 mark of the second half, with Bradford clinging to its 2-0 lead.
Meadville’s Ali Laylani had a wide open shot, but Schmidt stopped it with a dive to his left that preserved the advantage and momentum.
“In these types of games we’ve had large differentials, he might not get a lot of action, but when he does, we ask him to make two or three big saves, and he did that today,” Lohrman said. “We had some breakdowns in the back, but Evan was there and did his job.”
The junior varsity teams battled to a 0-0 draw. Bradford goalkeeper Hugh Kennedy made six saves.
Bradford, now winners of back-to-back games, will host DuBois on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s District 9 championship. The Owls defeated the Beavers earlier this year, 6-0. The game begins at 1:30 p.m.
