4A-3 Far West League Head Coach of the year Jess Beaman brought a confident, disciplined and mentally prepared group of young men to the pitch Wednesday afternoon, and the North Valley Knights were quickly overwhelmed.
Led by first team All-League junior forward Luke Beaman, the Bruins wasted no time attacking the Knight defense. Quickly settling into their signature passing game, they stretched North Valleys defense wide and to the corners. League MVP midfielder, Sam Broberg #10 would send a perfectly placed cross to the top of the 6-yard box, and Beaman would beat the Knights keeper with a beautiful header into the opposite upper corner of the goal just four minutes into the match.
A stunned North Valley team would spend their next few moments attempting to regain some sense of control, but the smothering Bruin defense would not allow the struggling Knights to establish any continuity.
The Bruins would again deftly work the ball through a scrambling North Valley defense, and senior forward Ryan Botnen #3 would put the ball again at the feet of #13 Luke Beaman. The team’s top scorer would not waste the opportunity. Beaman’s second goal was a finely placed strike that beat the diving North Valley keeper to his lower left corner just six minutes after his first playoff goal.
The Bruins would have other opportunities to expand their lead as they spent the majority of the first half in front of the North Valley goal, but would take a 2-0 lead into the half.
The second half saw the Knights with a more aggressive midfield game plan, putting together some passes and testing Bruins keeper Jaime Cruz. However, it would be the Bruin defense that would take over the game, squeezing North Valley players from the ball and keeping the Knight offense frustrated for the remainder of the game.
Junior defender Austin Fronckowiak #6, junior second-team All-League #8 Roman Worthey, and senior first team All-League Izaiha Bruce #4 would shut down any Hidden Valley advances for the entirety of the second half.
Junior striker Luke Beaman would miss a 3 goal hat-trick by the width of a crossbar as his shot from a direct free kick from outside the box beat the keeper only to strike the crossbar. However, a mistake in front of the North Valley goal area would be controlled by Roman Worthey and an unselfish pass to junior forward Jair Valdovinos #7 would result in the only goal of the second half.
The Bruins celebrated a 3-0 win against an overmatched North Valley Knights team and will advance to the second round of play this Saturday afternoon against an 8-0-2 4A-2 Tri-Valley Conference Madras White Buffalos team coming off a 3-0 playoff win over Hidden Valley.