Broadneck positions for playoff success

A pileup at the top of the county boys soccer standings is setting the stage for several rounds of exciting playoff soccer. Broadneck figures to be in the mix when the Class 4A East Region crown is decided.

Josh Schwartz had a goal in each half, and the Bruins played fundamentally sound to record their 10th shutout in county play, blanking Arundel, 2-0.

Broadneck's forwards were quick to the ball from the opening whistle, attacking the Wildcat midfield and defensive third and applying pressure immediately. The result was a golden opportunity 90 seconds into play.

Off a quick restart, Schwartz found himself with a slight opening and beat Arundel goalkeeper Ryan Santos to the lower-right corner from 25 yards out.

"Our forwards really set the tempo for us with their work rate tonight, and they were just - in those first 90 seconds - all over the place," Broadneck coach Sean Tettemer said. "The work rate and pressure got us that goal. That was the most active we were inside the box all year."

The Bruins (11-2-1) kept the pressure on, when Guy Skord missed just wide left nearly two minutes later and Matt Davis was high on a header off a corner kick in the 14th minute.

The Wildcats allowed Broadneck to shoot from long-range, as Tettemer figured, they didn't want to allow anything cheap behind them.

Offensively, the Wildcats couldn't get enough space deep in the zone. Mike Kovac moved the ball well down low, and Billy Fowler poked holes into the left defensive third, but couldn't get that final step to put a shot on Cody Niedermeier.

"We were trying to run our combinations and get some penetration, but we tried to get the ball through too early," Arundel coach Nick Jauschnegg said. "We wanted to make the extra pass, and we just didn't do that."

Santos turned away Ryan Bugarin's low shot to the right side in the 24th minute - one of his six saves - while Niedermeier came off the line to take a ball off Fowler's foot three minutes later.

Arundel (9-5) nearly had the equalizer with 5:40 left as Kovac spun, fell down, regained possession and beat Niedermeier, only to have his shot stopped by the left post.

Play was quiet in the second half until Santos was forced to make his second strong save, turning away Skord's header.

The ensuing corner kick, however, was unable to be cleared cleanly by the Wildcat defense. Ben Campbell crossed a ball to the right side to find Bugarin, who headed the ball back to Schwartz for the goal.

"Coach's philosophy this week was just to go get the ball, and that's what we did," Schwartz said. "We pressured, stole the ball and went to the goal, and it led to a real satisfying win."

Bugarin almost added a third goal three minutes later, but his shot hit the post.

The Bruins have allowed four goals all season, including two to South River in their only county loss.

"We have been about defending all year," Tettemer said. "We were 12-4 last year because we gave up too many goals, at least for us. Now, we are winning, 1-0, instead of losing, 2-1. We are playing tight games, but we can handle it."

Arundel lost four of five to the county's top four teams. Jauschnegg thinks his team is just a shade away from performing at the level he wants.

"We are not disappointed with what we are doing," he said. "We just have to do what we are doing better. We have had bad first touches, and our shooting is just horrible right now. We have got to make the opposing keeper work harder to stop us."

Broadneck (11-2-1) 1 1 - 2

Arundel (9-5) 0 0 - 0

GOALS: BN - Schwartz 2. ASSISTS: Bugarin. SHOTS: BN - 17; AR - 5. SAVES: BN - Niedermeier 2; AR - Santos 6, Bagley 2. CORNERS: BN - 6; AR - 1.