11/19/2011 - Williston 1 at Brooks 2
Game Notes:
Brooks got off to a dream start in this highly charged match played in front of a large bi-partison crowd in North Andover. Brooks took the opening kick and held possession for the first forty five seconds, ending their run with some fine combination play on the left flank and a deft pass from Seve Elkin to Elijah Soko. Soko made no mistake, beating Williston keeper Bailey Gawron to the far post. The stunned visitors found themselves down 1-0 without having touched the ball. Brooks continued to apply massive pressure for the next twenty minutes, narrowly missing a second goal three times in that span. Williston's dangerous strikers began to assert themselves at that point, however, and proved most effective on the counter. In the 28th minute the estimable Jon Bzdel turned his mark and came from the left across the top of the Brooks box. He rifled a low drive back to the near post and beat Cam Johst for the equalizer. Play was fairly even for the rest of the first half with the two teams playing vastly different styles going forward. In the second half Brooks regained control of the midfield and began to spread the ball across the pitch, finding ways into Williston's well organized defense. Two clean headers from in close both missed to the right and another clanged off the bar. But the frustrated Brooksians remained patient until one of Jory Makin's piercing corners was met by Greg Conrad's slashing run across the box in the 62nd minute. Conrad volleyed back to the near post and the ball was in the goal before anyone could move to defend. It was a tumultuous goal celebration as the home side was relieved to be back on top. The final half hour was characterized by continued pressure from Brooks with some every clever and dangerous counterattacking through Bzdel by Williston. The Brooks defense was stout with Sam Milbury cleaning up anything that got through. Dylan Quigley was particularly impressive in his finest match yet, as he marked Mark Richards ably and effectively. Johst was solid under pressure and served to steady the young Brooksians in times of trouble.
Brooks moves on to the NEPSAC Class B Final Sunday @ Northfield Mount Herman against three time defending champions South Kent School (18-0-0) at 11 am.
Dad's Game Review -
This game drew a wide range of emotion from all watching. Elation, Anxiety, Frustration, Hope & Relief! 47 seconds into the game Elijah takes a nice feed from Seve and lofts a beautiful shot over the plump WN goalkeeper. WN never touched the ball. I usually don't comment on players physique but this keeper was short and round. After that first goal, I assumed it was going to be an easy afternoon. Was I ever wrong. Once Brooks scored, WN took control. They moved the ball extremely well and had Brooks pinned back in their own end for most of the half. Brooks did have some offensive threat, but not the organized offense needed.
During the warm up I always look for the big guys. I picked 2 out and assumed they were going to be the center backs that would be banging with Zach. I was right on one of them. The other turned out to be one of their strikers. WOW! He was really big, fast and had great feet. The other striker was equally talented although not as big. They moved the ball really well and had lots of pressure on Cam. About 25 or so minutes later, WN equalized. The rest of the team took the body hard at every opportunity. Brooks hadn't seen body play like that most of the season. I think the physical nature took a bit of a toll on both Zach and Elijah due to their already hurting bodies. Even Cam was hit pretty hard a couple of times. On the last one, he ended up landing on the smaller striker and I think he landed a good elbow to the ribs. A yellow card was given to the WN striker and he left the field. The half ended tied.
The second half started and that smaller striker did not return. Brooks did though. The offense returned. The pressure returned. The ball control returned. Elijah missed 2 headed balls just wide of the net. Zach toed the turf and hit a ball wide on the other side. In the first 10 minutes of the half Brooks just missed on 3 goals. WN had their runs in the offensive end and the defense shut them down. On the 3rd corner kick by Jory in about 6 minutes, Gregg connected and drove the ball in to make the score 2-1. The celebration on the field was great! As was the celebration from the home crowd! Brooks continued to pressure, with Elijah hitting the crossbar on another try. Zach again, had an opportunity but was denied. Zach threaded a great pass through to Elijah, but the keeper beat him to the ball and stole it off his foot just in time. WOW! The effort was incredible. Hayden replaced Elijah with about 15 minutes to go and played really well up top with Zach. Great passes and holds in the corner to help kill the clock. The final 2 minutes was intense as WN pressed to equalize. The whistle blew, the team came together was mobbed by the students on the field. Zach, Elijah and a couple of others smartly avoided the pile up and immediately shook hands and hugged some of the WN players. On to the finals!!!
After the formal handshake, I saw Zach talking with the big striker. Turns out they remembered each other from their U13-15 days. He played for Western United while Zach was with Inter & Aztecs. Mutual respect. Very cool!!
Well, we are off to Northfield Mount Herman tomorrow for the final against South Kent. Unfortunately, Matt will need to miss his game. I feel badly about it, but this could be a once in a lifetime game so neither Cheryl or I want to miss it. Matt is understanding thankfully!
At the end of it all it was confirmed that Elijah, Cam, Zach, Sam & Jory were all selected to the all star squad. A great honor for all of them. Evidently, if the boys were not in the final tomorrow, they would be playing in either the Senior or Junior All Star games. Cool that they can't!
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