It wasn’t a position he was sure about taking, but the move sure paid off for Bradford goalkeeper Zach Williams Tuesday night.

Williams made 18 saves as Bradford made a pair of first-half goals stand in a 2-0 shutout win over St. Marys at Parkway Field.

The win moved the Owls to 11-0 on the season and snapped St. Marys’ six-game win streak.

“We approached (Zach) about it last year, and he was a little uncertain,” Bradford coach Wes Lohrman said. “But he was willing to do whatever the team needed. He overcame an injury early in the year, and I’m pleased with how he’s playing back there.

“Sometimes it’s a little unconventional, but he makes saves when we need him to, and I’m very impressed. I’m happy he got a solid shutout tonight.”

Williams’ day was buoyed by a pair of first-half goals from the Owl offense and by a stellar job from the defense in guarding St. Marys’ potent attack, particularly Vinny Nunez.

Gavin McGee and Andrew Kane had Bradford’s markers just four minutes apart.

McGee struck with 13:07 left in the first half after the Flying Dutchmen (9-3) turned the ball over in their defensive third. The Owls collected the ball before Ethan Tate found an open McGee for the score. Tate was awarded an assist on the play.

Then, with 9:13 left in the half, Kane sliced his way through Dutch defenders before tallying to extend Bradford’s lead to 2-0.

Despite the quick, back-to-back strikes, Lohrman felt the Owls could have done a better job on that end of the field.

“We struggled to keep a shape tonight. There were a lot of times it felt like we were breaking down (in the formation),” he said. “We had a purpose, but it didn’t feel as though we held our system of play together the way we would have liked.”

He added, “At the end of the day, we did what was necessary to win, but we’re getting to the point in the year where we’re preparing for the playoffs. With the way we were lined up in our formation tonight, it needs to be a little better.”

Lohrman was, however, pleased with the play of winger Brayden Ervin, who was frequently involved in attacks down the right side of the pitch.

“He did a nice job for us tonight. He did everything we’ve talked about in practices,” the coach noted. “He was getting in good positions and helped us to sustain and build an attack from the right side.”

Bradford’s defense, meanwhile, mostly kept the Dutch at bay. St. Marys rarely had great looks at the net, and when it did, Williams was able to collect the shots. Unofficially, the Owls outshot St. Marys 27-15.

The Dutch hadn’t been shut out of a game all season, and were averaging more than four goals per game entering the matchup.

That effort to stymie the opposition began with slowing down the usually productive Vinny Nunez, who entered the game with 99 career goals and hoping for his 100th.

“We knew that Vinny is an important part of their attack. Between Cam (Austin) and Jonny (Komidar), I thought they did a good job of neutralizing him when he had the ball,” Lohrman said. “We kept him from taking shots, and we were trying to force the ball out wide. We achieved all that.”

Lohrman felt that the Owls could have done a better job of clearing the ball, though.

“We struggled with that at times, and it gave them some unnecessary chances. Fortunately, they weren’t able to capitalize when we got out of (formation).”

And now, with an eye for the future, Lohrman is readying his team for a potential postseason. Bradford winds its regular season down with three more games, and then a potential District 9 playoff would take place.

The Owls, which have won back-to-back Class 3A District 9 soccer titles, would face DuBois or Clearfield in a playoff matchup.

“We definitely have established our style of play. We’re a quick strike team and we like to take advantage of odd-number situations,” Lohrman said. “We definitely need to do a better job of using all parts of the field. We have the tendency to get into a game set, and we stay in one part and struggle to get out of that. Once that happens, it becomes difficult for us to create good opportunities.

“With the playoffs looming, our first looks are Clearfield and DuBois. We have to make sure we utilize everything. They’ll be ready to go when the time comes, so we need to be on the same page.”

JV: Bradford 10, St. Marys 0

Offense was plentiful for Bradford’s JV unit, which handed St. Marys a 10-0 defeat.

Lucas Johnson recorded a hat trick in the win, while Mitch Strauss and Jake Franz each had a pair of markers. Andy Mangold, Cade Bucher and Derek Correa each scored once.