In an early season 37th District matchup, Bishop Brossart found a second half goal to pull out a 1-0 road win over Scott Wednesday night.
The Mustangs took control early as midfielders Hadley Eviston and Zoey Woosley dominated possession through the center of the field.
“I always tell the girls if you can string together five passes you can normally get a decent opportunity in the box,” Mustangs head coach Andy Smith said. “Establishing that kind of possession is always key against any team or at any level.”
Those opportunities presented themselves multiple times throughout the first half as Eviston and Woosley made a string of connections with the team’s front three. For every chance the Mustangs had, Scott sophomore goalie Savannah Black often produced a save to keep the Eagles leveled.
Black had 12 saves on the night which comes out to her personal best on the season. More importantly, Black’s efficiency kept the Eagles within striking distance despite the lack of possession.
“You know we definitely lacked on the possession end tonight, but it’s really just a testament to how much grit and heart our girls play with,” second year Eagles head coach Allie Ast said. “When you defend 80% to 90% of the match it’s easy to let up. But I saw a lot of passion we can pull from this game.”
Scott entered the week coming off a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee where the team finished 2-1 over a two day span against their competition down south.
“We saw a big shift in our confidence and ability to trust each other despite being a young team,” Ast said. “We don’t have many subs and that can get tiring, but to see them work through that challenge is encouraging.”
The Eagles showed that endurance as Black connected on a long ball to senior forward Brooke Hoerlein, who’s long run challenged Mustangs keeper Madeline Broering in the final seconds of the half.
Tied after the first 40 minutes, Smith and Brossart’s frustrations were more of a credit to Scott’s gameplan.
“They kept a lot of people behind the ball which tells me they came in prepared,” Smith said. “Sometimes we can create and convert chances and other times our opponents can show up with big stops.”
Fortunately for the Mustangs, their offensive persistence paid off in the second half. Just seven minutes into the half, Woosley converted off a deflection in the box which appeared to be the breakthrough.
To Brossart’s surprise and Scott’s relief, the goal was called offside. The Mustangs however managed to respond with another opportunity just three minutes later.
In the 50th minute, Eviston connected with freshman Kylie Smith out wide, who played a low cross into senior forward Lexi Braun, who made no mistake of putting the ball in the back of the net and staying onside.
“The goal and even a lot of our second half opportunities stemmed from a couple different runs that drew their (Scott) defenders away from the ball,” Smith said. “In particular, I know our forward Larah Callahan made a big effort to come back to the ball which opened up space for our other attackers.”
As a sophomore, Callahan created chances and almost broke into the scoring column on two separate occasions late in the half. Down just a goal, Black made a few more key saves to give the Eagles one last shot at evening the score.
With one last chance, the Eagles were awarded with a free kick after a Mustangs infraction just outside the box. Scott’s senior captain and leading scorer Josie Puthoff was able to connect off the cross just before Broering made her final save of the night to ensure the win.
“It’ll be nice to have a little break, but we really just want to make sure all of our players can get healthy from here,” Ast said.
With the loss, Scott falls to an even 3-3 on the season with their next match taking place on the road Sept. 4 against Boone County.
For Brossart, Broering and the defense earned their first clean sheet of the season.
“We’ve got a senior led defense with Kennedy Kremer and Kaitlyn Kramer who’s been a four year starter,” Smith said. “Recently we’ve struggled keeping the ball out of the net but this is a step in the right direction.”
Improving to 3-1-2 on the season, Brossart’s next match will take place at home Saturday against Calvary Christian in back-to-back district matchups.
Some more photos of the game taken by Charles Bolton below.
