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WELLSBURG -- Brooke Ohler and the Brooke girls soccer team kept Abby Macek and the Madonna defense under siege for the first 75 minutes of the match.
Macek made 13 saves in goal, but it was not enough. Ohler recorded two goals and an assist to lead thee Bruins to 3-2 victory against the Blue Dons Monday night on the grass soccer field at Brooke.
"We put a lot of pressure on them," Brooke (7-6-2) head coach Elias Hannaoui said. "We tried to spread the field. We had a lot of crosses. We were able to create a lot of chances, but we were not able to finish. In the second half, we got off to a good start. We scored a couple of goals to go up 3-0. After the PK, they had the momentum.
"They were able to create some chances. They made it interesting. Give credit to both teams' girls. It was a tough game."
Brooke outshot Madonna, 22-3, and the Bruins took 17 shots on goal, while the Blue Dons had two.
"We started out playing like we did in that game (a few weeks ago) at Catholic Central," Madonna (5-4-2) head coach Bob Kolanko said. "They controlled the ball on our end of the field for a good bit of the game, but a lot of that was self inflicted. We did not play the ball to ourselves coming out, and as a result it came right back in. Brooke was in good position to win those 50-50 balls. We need to do a better job of kicking the ball to our players' feet and not theirs."
Ohler tallied the first two goals for the Bruins, while Madison Platt collected the third. Franki Neff did not make a save in goal.
"Brooke played a lot different than they have the last couple of years," Kolanko said. "They were a lot more aggressive. They created a lot of scoring opportunities. They have a good freshman class, and I think that has changed the whole nature of their team. Ohler was all over the field. We scrimmaged them early in the year, and they were aggressive in that game and that held true today."
Bella Pulice and Sofia-Teresa Dibacco each delivered a goal for the Blue Dons. Pulice's goal came on a penalty kick. Liv Bine ended up with an assist.
Madonna used two goalies. Macek started and was replaced by Mia Chiodo with a little more than five minutes left to play. Chiodo made one save.
"We scrimmaged them early in the year," Hannaoui said. "They have improved a lot from the beginning of the season. They tried to go down the middle of the field. They are well coached. They are coming off of winning the OVACs, and I think they are more excited to play. They were excited to play Brooke.
"I think any time you win the OVACs you get excited, and I think it shows on the field. They are going to play hard in the last few games of their season."
Ohler opened the scoring when she scored off of a corner kick less than seven minutes into the match. The ball bounced off a Madonna defender, and Ohler ripped a shot into the back of the net, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 33:13 left to play in the first half.
Ohler contributed her second goal with 16:25 remaining, giving the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
Platt scored a little more than seven minutes later off of an assist from Ohler to give Brooke a 3-0 advantage with 9:09 on the clock.
Madonna netted a pair of goals in a little more than three minutes to get back into the match.
First, Pulice scored on a penalty kick to cut the Blue Dons' deficit to 3-1 with 4:18 left to play. Then, Dibacco knocked a shot into the net off of a corner kick with 56 seconds still showing on the scoreboard clock.
Madonna attempted to push forward and score the equalizing goal, but it was not able to do so as time ran out.
"We scored two goals late to make it interesting," Kolanko said. "It is just a matter of finding the right people to put in the right places against an opponent. That is kind of what happened."
Brooke has played some of its games on grass as compared to playing on Paul "Bud" Billiard Field inside Brooke Memorial Stadium.
"I think we have played four games on the grass field," Hannaoui said. "The turf field is faster. The grass slows things down. On grass, you have to work harder on your passes. You have to adjust. We practice on grass. It is advantage for us to play here."
UP NEXT
Madonna: Hosts East Fairmont at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Brooke: Travels to Steubenville Wednesday. The game is a rematch of the OVAC Class 5A tournament semifinal back on Sept. 22. Big Red won that game, 3-2.