The Bradford girls soccer team had the better passes, possessions and scoring opportunities through the game’s opening 40 minutes.
But they found themselves trailing 1-0 at the intermission.
“I went out and asked them at halftime to just give me a little bit more and to give one more ounce of what you got,” Bradford head coach Warren Shaw said. “And I think you saw (in the second half) that everybody did.”
The final 40 minutes belonged to Bradford, as leading goal scorer Regan Johnson notched two more tallies to power the Lady Owls to a 2-1District 10 Region 6win over visiting Hickory.
Johnson broke up the Lady Hornets’ shutout bid less than five minutes into the second half when she took a pass from Chloe Shaw, deked the Hickory goalkeeper and buried her shot into the wide open net.
Just a few minutes later, Johnson again received a precise pass from a teammate — this time it was Maddi Cowburn — before firing it top shelf over the goalie.
Johnson now has 20 goals on the season to lead the Lady Owls (6-2) and all of the Big 30 through Tuesday.
“When Chloe and Maddi play with their heads up and find those passing lanes — and Maddi is an incredible player — just a phenomenal player. And when we get Chloe clicking too, who has been in a bit of a slump, we see what can happen when the two of them play with their head up and find Regan.
“And the good thing about Regan is that she actually created the goal by working back to defend. That’s what we ask her to do. Tipped the ball one direction, we end up with the ball and she makes a nice banana run and she’s in. Her improvement isn’t from a just run fast and score, it’s from a movement without the ball and coming back to defend. “
And while two goals is by far a low for Bradford in a victory this year (the team is averaging eight goals per game in its six wins) it was all the more impressive considering the opponent.
Hickory (4-2) entered Tuesday’s contest with just three goals allowed on the season and came to Bradford after back-to-back shutout wins.
“Their system and the way they play is never going to be bad because it’s a continual thing they do each year. Just a real good program,” Shaw said.
“That’s why this was such a fun game, because it’s two teams that play the same way. Two teams that just went at it. It’s fun.”
Bradford had several opportunities to open the scoring in the first half, with forwards Cowburn and Emily Prince each providing pressure on the Hornets defense.
But Izabella Hochstetler netted Hickory’s lone goal 15 minutes into the game on a miscommunication between a Bradford defender and goalie Mackenzie Lucas to give her team the early lead.
It was the lone mistake in the game for Lucas, who made seven saves that included a critical stop on a point-blank opportunity late in the second half with the Lady Owls clinging to the lead.
Bradford added an extra defender for the game’s final 10 minutes to preserve the victory, and survived several late Hickory scoring chances — that included a corner kick — to bounce back after Saturday’s loss at Warren.
And while Bradford controlled the pace of play down the stretch against the Hornets, Shaw was wary of what an opponent like Hickory is capable of.
“As far as dominating, I don’t think you ever dominate a team like that, especially at the end when you’re kind of on edge,” he said. “It’s always funny when you watch games like this and you’re playing well and moving the ball and you’re beating and beating and then you have to defend for the last seven minutes. I don’t like to play that way, but inevitably that’s just what happens.”
The Lady Owls host Erie East on Thursday afternoon as they try to continue to work their way up the Region 6 standings.
“(The team) came out with a mindset that they are going to beat anybody and they are not going to give up,” Shaw said. “They are going to stay consistent and they are going to play hard.”
