After Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat in Slippery Rock, Wes Lohrman told his team that they needed to do a better job of finishing their scoring opportunities.
That message — for the most part — was well-received by his Bradford Owls Thursday at Parkway Field.
Bradford struck for five first-half goals en route to a 7-0 District 10 Region 5 victory over Franklin.
The Owls (8-2, 4-1) scored all of first-half those tallies in a 16-minute span with Ian Grady converting on two of his opportunities. He added another tally in the second half to finish with a hat trick.
Four other Bradford players (Alex Marrone, Isaiah Pingie, Ayron Hart, Matthew Franz) had a goal each.
“Our speed is very good,” Lohrman said. “I’m very pleased with how we are moving up and down the field as a group. Isaiah on the right wing was a part of the first three goals. When he is able to keep his head about him he has been able to play very well and has been very helpful to what this team has accomplished in the absence of Colton (Swanson).”
Bradford has been without Swanson, who at the time of his injury was leading all of the Big 30 in goals, for the last several games. Lohrman said that it’s been a team effort in replacing the production of Swanson.
“With Colton out there, we have a different type of pressure in the offensive third when we don’t have the ball and that created a lot of scoring opportunities,” he explained. “With Ian and Ayron Hart and Ryan Miller on the wings and Isaiah, they are capable of creating goal-scoring situations.
“We are creating the opportunities. I’d like us to be putting a few more away, but we put seven up on the board today and our defense threw a shutout today.”
The Owls finished with nearly 30 shots in the game, but Lohrman sees even more room for improvement and a higher percentage to find the back of the net going forward.
“Even today, we had opportunities where still we are either playing it right to the keeper or we are taking shots that aren’t generating a lot of power. Watching the kids that are out here, when they get into scoring position, they are really flat. They aren’t creating a lot of options and spacing. That’s one thing we need to work on in the attacking end of the field of play.”
Defensively, the Owls thwarted any Franklin (1-7, 1-7) scoring chances for nearly the entire 80 minutes, allowing the Knights to strike for just three shots — none of which landed on target.
Evan Schmidt and Hugh Kennedy split time in net to pick up the shutout.
The lopsided halftime score allowed Lohrman to empty his bench and get plenty of kids playing time. With a roster numbering in the mid-30s, the Owls were able to get nearly three entire units on the field that included plenty of freshmen and sophomores.
“Patrick (Conneely) is doing a great job with our junior varsity program,” Lohrman said. “Obviously we work very closely together and these kids see what everybody is doing. Every group that is out there are all doing the same thing so that consistency is important.
“It’s a tough thing when you are putting in hours of practice and not getting a ton of playing time, but I think they all took advantage of it tonight. I was happy to see them get that time.”
The score also afforded the opportunity for senior defender Matthew Franz to get some opportunities up front, which he took advantage of by scoring the Owls’ final goal of the game.
Lohrman thinks it was Frantz’s first of his high school career.
“Players like that who give you everything they have day-in and day-out,” Lohrman said. “The defensive positions don’t always get their name in the paper or get recognized in lights so to get him a goal was nice. Everybody was rooting for him.”
