BROCKWAY — Jared Hawkins has proved to be a thorn in the Bradford High boys soccer team’s side all year.
Tuesday was no different, as the DuBois striker’s lone goal was enough to lift the Beavers to a 1-0 win in the District 9 Class AAA semifinal. The loss sends DuBois onto the Class AAA final and snaps Bradford’s streak of four-straight district championships, all of which occurred at the Class AA level.
Hawkins scored his sixth goal in three games this year against Bradford — all DuBois wins — to lead the Beavers into the Class AAA final against Clearfield. The Owls played strong against DuBois all season, narrowly losing 3-2 and 3-1 in the other two games.
“Yeah, it was the same scoreline,” Bradford head coach Wes Lohrman said. “But my guys came out and played differently. My guys came out and pressured. We played them last time and played a lot of time back in our defensive third and didn’t generate a lot of opportunities.
“Tonight, we changed our formation a little bit and changed our tactical style knowing what to expect.”
The Owls did well to contain Hawkins for most of the game, as the contest was a back-and-forth affair played in the midfield. When Hawkins did break free early in the game, goalkeeper Jack Kellam came up with a big save in a one-on-one situation.
With 26 minutes left in the second half, Hawkins received a pass along the right sideline, beat a Bradford defender and fired a low shot into the bottom left corner just beyond an outstretched Kellam for the game’s only score. Kellam stopped 12 shots total in goal.
“I think sometimes, the closer the scoreline, the harder it is to deal with,” Lohrman said. “They (Owls) showed that they were motivated, they showed that they were committed. They worked the way that we had been asking them to. Besides from being able to put a goal in the back of the net, we couldn’t as a coaching staff have asked for more from them tonight.”
With the move from Class AA to AAA and reshuffling of regions within District 10, the Owls’ future path to success will come in different ways than before. Playing games against stiff District 9 competition, like DuBois, will show Bradford’s younger players how hard it is to win games at a top level, according to Lohrman.
“We do have a lot of younger players” Lohrman said, “and it’s important for them to see the types of games that are going to be played and the caliber of the playoff games that are going to be played. Our playoff landscape has changed. It’s not what it was last year or the previous four years.
“The teams we are playing on a weekly basis two-to-three games a week has become more strenuous with the classification change and the new regions. They know now that a lot of extra work, more so than what we’ve done, is going to need to be put in in the offseason.”
Six Owls played their final games wearing the Bradford shirt: Kellam, Alex Kelly, Matt O’Brien, Mitch Forbes, Jarod Piccioli, while manager Wyatt McCann is also a senior. After a team huddle as part of the team’s post-match routine, Lohrman and the rest of the coaching staff had a final huddle with the seniors.
“One of the things that I really don’t like about that talk is that’s a door that’s closing,” Lohrman said. “We are moving on six young gentlemen who came to us as kids pretty much coming up from middle school. Being able to watch them develop — not only as players, but as people — both physically on the field and academically in the classroom. It’s been a pleasure working with those six gentlemen and I wish them the best of luck.”
