Through the first 40 minutes of their Aug. 31 contest, Brandon and Goodrich’s boys soccer teams battled to a scoreless tie.
However, it was the Blackhawks who broke through in the second half on their way to a 2-0 win against the host Martians, improving Brandon’s record to 4-1.
Sophomore Jamie Drayton and junior Chris Barth scored the second-half goals for the Blackhawks, while junior Jerry Cronk, playing goalie in place of the injured Steve Kumpar, recorded the shutout in net for Brandon.
‘We just took advantage of our scoring opportunities in the second half,? Brandon coach Nathan Hunter said. ‘In the first half, we had several opportunities, but couldn’t finish.?
On Aug. 30, the host Blackhawks survived a second-half comeback from Fenton to defeat the Tigers 4-3, improving to 3-1 on the season.
Brandon grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first half, as Ryan Morales scored the first of two goals on an assist from Alex Covetz. Kyle Vallier followed up by connecting on an assist from Tyler Cole.
Fenton’s Kevin Stilwell cut the Brandon lead to 2-1 at halftime with a first-half goal.
Cole then opened the second-half scoring for Brandon on an assist from Joey Smith, and Morales scored his second goal of the game on an assist from Matt Thomas, giving Brandon a commanding 4-1 lead.
Fenton’s Brian Hines and Jordan Dunlap each scored unassisted goals to cut the Brandon lead to one, but Kumpar and the Blackhawks held on for the win.
In the Notre Dame Prep Tournament Aug. 25, the Blackhawks defeated Oakland Christian 2-1 in the opener before losing to Prep 1-0 in sudden death overtime.