From the beginning, the Bruins were playing on their offensive side of the field. RBHS attempted multiple shots in the first half, but it wasn’t until freshman Tarnue Tyler followed-up on a rebounded shot from junior Salim Gumati that the scoreboard read 1-0.
Finally scoring their first goal, the other five came easy after that. Senior Eli Sherman attributed their success in the second half to changes in their attack strategy.
“We started out playing too direct, and we addressed that a little bit during the game as well as halftime,” Sherman said. “We started playing more two touch soccer and moving the ball side to side as opposed to straightforward which created more openings for us.”
This new strategy proved positive; two minutes into the second half, senior Tyler Bales, assisted by Tarnue Tyler, made a shot into the upper left corner of the goal. The Bruins were leading 2-0.
Four minutes after that, RBHS made another goal. Senior defender Nick White made a pass up the field to Sherman who passed to Tyler, who then was made a crisp, clean grounder into the right corner of the goal. Sherman, center midfielder senior Tripp Sheehan both made goals that widened the RBHS lead.
The Bruins continued to enlarge this gap until the fourth minute of the second half with Tyler scoring the last goal. Their team chemistry was finally putting goals into the net.
“I felt like we worked pretty hard the first half and it just wasn’t happening for us,” junior striker and center midfielder Jacob Kovarik said. “Then at halftime I felt like we came together as a team, and we just brought it together, started to moving it through the midfield, opening up spaces and started being successful.”
By Stazi Prost
Are you a Bruin soccer fan? What has been the highlight of their season so far?
