OVAC win helps Bruins get ready for tournament

By AARON PETCHAL, sports writer
WHEELING — The Brooke girls soccer team came through in the clutch. This season, the Bruins set high goals for themselves, and one of those goals was to win the OVAC Cup Tournament championship. Last Monday night, Brooke did just that as the Bruins defeated Catholic Central, 0-0, (4-2 in penalty kicks) to win their second tournament title. Brooke head coach Jerod Hall said his seniors came up big against Catholic Central. “This is the best senior class a coach can ask for, and that is where games like this are won is through leadership,” he stated. “I have got Kaitlin Starcher, Victoria Emmerth in the back as seniors. Connie Fuentes our goalkeeper is a senior. So in my back, I have got a lot of senior leadership there. I have got Molly Cline in the middle, which is kind of the quarterback in soccer, and she is a senior. So, I really wasn’t concerned. I was hoping we would get a goal. Shootouts a lot of times are left up to luck, and you try not to do that but we did a good job.” Winning the conference tournament will help Brooke in its quest to win a state championship.. “I think any time you win an event where it is you lose and you go home, it is good preparation for the state tournament, because there is that sense of urgency with every game, with every play, that focus,” Hall commented. He added, “They feel like they can get into a tournament one and done and win it. So, I think it helped out a lot.” The Bruins got off to a slow start to open the season as Brooke was hard hit by injuries. “We had a ton of injuries, a ton of injuries. We couldn’t get through a game without carrying somebody off of the field, which is frustrating for a coach but what are you going to do? Luckily for us, our reserves like took it to heart at the beginning of the year,” Hall remarked. “You tell them, I think every coach tells them, ‘Train hard, train like you are going to start, because you never know when you are going to go,’ and that came true for us this year. “I think every girl on the varsity roster started at some point this year, and so there was help with depth going into the playoffs and I think you are seeing that now. With a lot of these close games, our depth is really showing through. We have had different starting lineups in all three OVAC games. So, it helped out, actually it was a borderline blessing in disguise with the injuries because in the regular season you would like to win them all, but this is what you are playing for.” The Bruins will open up sectional play this week. (Petchal can be contacted at apetchal@heraldstaronline.com)