BRUNSWICK — A good week of practice didn’t translate into good results Saturday for the Edward Little boys’ soccer team.
The practice didn’t make for a perfect performance as Brunswick used a strong opening half to hand EL its first lost with a 2-0 win.

“We had a good week in practice, but everything we worked on to try to apply here, we just didn’t execute it,” said EL coach Dave Morin.

Last year, EL tied the Dragons at home early in the season but got walloped in Brunswick 6-0.

This time around EL and Brunswick are the fifth and sixth-ranked teams in Eastern A respectively, but the Dragons struck twice in the first half on goals by Zach McMillan and Brandon Sawyer. That put the Dragons in the driver’s seat early, and EL couldn’t make up the difference.

“You just want to look to play well, and we only played well for 70 minutes,” said Morin. “Unfortunately, that first 10 minutes, weren’t good. We just didn’t manage things well out there emotionally and it cost us. You can get away with that with teams that are less poised.”

It was an important win for the Dragons, which have had the luxury of home-field advantage for most of the season thus far. Now they’ll be on the road for a lengthy stretch.

“It’s a big game for us,” said Brunswick coach Peter Gardner. “Everything we do now is based upon making sure that we take care of business for that particular game. Our schedule tells us now that we have to travel because five of our first seven games were home.”

Brunswick (6-1) knocked on the door right from the start, producing a handful of shots in first few minutes of play. EL (4-1-2) tried to fend them off and even managed a few rushes of its own but couldn’t produce the point-blank shots it needed.

“I was a little nervous in the first five or 10 minutes,” said Gardner. “There were about three (chances) that didn’t get what they needed to get. Part of that is just being a little slow and not anticipating that that is going to go through.”

With 25:52 left in the half, Scott Jarosz put a pass ahead for McMillan. He burst down the right wing and fired a low shot that hit the left corner.

Then with 19:20 left in the half, the Dragons struck again. Brunswick had a cross from the right corner. Connor Kelly had the opportunity to put a shot on net but instead tipped it over to Sawyer. He had an open shot and buried it.

“Those were well conceived,” said Gardner. “They did what they were supposed to do. They looked at exactly what it was that they needed to do, and they moved the ball really well.”

EL’s best chance of the half came with Tim Mains had a bid from the left side but the shot went wide with 14:40 left.

“We talked about playing with poise and confidence,” said Morin. “We lacked poised in the first 10 or 15 minutes. Mentally, we were ready, and then the opening kick-off came, and it took us awhile.”

EL’s hopes weren’t helped early in the second half when they lost Mains to a yellow card when he collided with the goalie. Then Steven Giorgetti came off after tweaking an ailing shoulder.

The Red Eddies still played more evenly in the second half, holding Brunswick to just one shot. El’s best chance in the second half came when a ball was sent toward the net from the midfield. Mains went up for the header but keeper Peter Morrell was there to grab the ball.

“We actually created more chances than we did here last year,” said Morin. “We just didn’t finish it off.”