Boys soccer: Edward Little strikes in first half to defeat Brunswick

AUBURN — Edward Little’s two first-half goals were all that was needed Tuesday.

The Red Eddies defeated Brunswick 2-0 for their seventh straight victory.

“We knew coming into the game Brunswick was a big competitor and they had a pretty strong offense,” Edward Little goalie Logan Martin said. “I am glad our defense held up today.”

Martin stopped eight shots for the shutout.

Dragons coach Mark Roma said Edward Little took advantage of its chances in the first half.

“I give them credit, when they had opportunities in the first half, they capitalized,” Roma said. “That was the difference. We aren’t good enough right now to put ourselves in that kind of a hole and expect ourselves to dig out.

“We are a work in progress, but we are getting there.”

Ben Cole delivered the first strike 65 seconds into the game for the Red Eddies (7-3). He cut to the center of the field and launched a shot from 20 yards out that curled away from Brunswick (5-4-1) goalie Anthony Cooley (three saves) into the net.

“I was excited; I was fired up in the moment,” Cole said. “I didn’t know it went in — I was so shocked. My emotions, I was so happy.”

Edward Little coach Max Thompson said Cole’s goal calmed the Red Eddies down.

“There’s no better start than an early goal,” Thompson said. “It kind of eases everybody’s nerves and allows us to settle down a little bit. I thought we played really well in the first half; I was really happy with the way we moved the ball.”

The Dragons controlled the possession time in the first half but didn’t create many scoring chances in the box. One chance they did generate resulted in a header that went over the net off a corner kick late in the opening half.

“Possession doesn’t do much for you unless you take advantage of it,” Roma said. “We owned the ball in the midfield, but they did a nice job of congesting the 18 and we couldn’t get many shots off.”

The Red Eddies booted a couple of shots that Cooley couldn’t control but didn’t capitalize on the loose balls.

Edward Little’s second goal came on a corner attempt in the final 30 seconds of the first half. Breccan Albert sent the ball to the far post, and Dayow Daud headed it in with eight seconds remaining for a 2-0 advantage.

“We have a couple of different setups for corner kicks, and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t,” Thompson said. “In that case, it worked out well.”

Brendan Shaw tried to put a shot past Martin early in the second half, but Martin made the stop on the near post.

Daud almost scored his second goal when he knocked the ball out of Cooley’s grasp. The ball went behind Cooley, but the Dragons’ defense cleared it out of harm’s way.

Thompson said the Red Eddies weren’t concerned about getting the third goal and changed their formation to help the defense.

“We allocated a few resources up at the top,” Thompson said. “We staggered a couple of guys, so we would have a little more width at the top, and staggered them so they can help out defensively.”

Shaw had a free kick 13 minutes into the second half, but the 30-yard boot curled past the far post.

Martin made an aggressive play toward the ball at the right side of the 18-yard box. Brunswick got to it first but didn’t get a shot toward the goal.

Midway through the second half, Martin made a save on a point-blank header to keep the clean sheet intact.

“I had a few close ones,” Martin said. “They scared me.”

On another one, Martin made a save on a Judah Greenwald 40-yard attempt.

Junior Beyoko made a dive to the ball and it just went out of the net in the 32nd minute for Brunswick.

“That’s why it’s a cruel game sometimes, you put yourself in a position to have to score goals, and sometimes the soccer gods aren’t in your corner,” Roma said.