If soccer teams scored points for controlling the ball, Beachwood would have earned a comfortable victory over visiting Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on Thursday.
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| Bogatur Askaryan scored Beachwood's lone goal in the second half |
The Bison dominated possession in the first half and did much of the same in the second 40 minutes but settled for a 1-1 draw with the Lions.
“That was our first real tough game,” said Beachwood head coach Brian Greene. “We beat Benedictine but they haven’t been historically a very strong team. We knew NDCL was good. They beat some good teams already and they tied Kirtland, 1-1, so we knew we were going to have our hands full.”
In the first 40 minutes, Beachwood earned corner kick after corner kick and played the game in NDCL territory yet it was the Lions that held a 1-0 lead on Ethan Ziegenfuss’ header near the midway point of the first half.
“We really dominated the game in the first half,” Greene said. “We probably had eight corner kicks and had most of the possession. I’m disappointed we didn’t have anything come out of that but it feels good because the boys see they can play with a good team.”
Beachwood continued to control the ball in the second half by spreading the field and forcing the Lions to defend the flanks. That strategy limited the Lions to just one shot in the first half and three in the second, all knocked away by Beachwood’s Griffin Davis.
Junior captain Bogatur Askaryan tied the game at the 58:02 mark when he took a pass from Max Babbush and made a play.
“That’s something we’ve been working on a lot,” Greene said. “From a set piece Max served him the ball right in the middle and Bogatur went up very strong. They did a good job of marking him but he went up in the air and beat the defender and the goalie and hit the back of the net.”
With a key conference matchup against Independence looming next week, Greene was pleased to see his squad put together a solid defensive game.
“It really was a total team effort,” he said. “We did a great job of spreading that team out and wearing them out and making them work. All the boys played well and contributed.”
The Bison host Independence on Tuesday then travel to Gilmour Academy on Thursday.
