Photos and story by: Charles Pulliam (@cspulliam)
BRENTWOOD – After clinching the District 12-AAA regular season soccer title late last month, the Brentwood boys didn't have to win Tuesday night having already earned a regional berth.
But who would bring minimum effort to a Battle of the Woods contest? Brentwood's Connor Greer and Ravenwood's Nick Dang could square off in a simple game of rock-paper-scissors and it would evolve into an epic battle in front of a jam-packed crowd.
The fans definitely showed Tuesday as well. They crammed into the Ravenwood bleachers and flooded the field's fenceline to watch the Bruins push, shove and scrape out a 3-1 victory over the Raptors to advance to the district championship in a physical postseason chapter of the rivalry.
"We always feel the pressure to win, I mean, it's the Battle of the Woods," said Greer, who scored the first goal in the 26th minute. "This feels amazing. In my four years here, we never lost to Ravenwood, so we had to keep that streak going."
The senior stated the obvious – "we're not trying to hurt them" – but the Bruins did want to at least match the physicality that always comes with a matchup on the pitch against Ravenwood. It boiled over on a couple occasions throughout the 80 minutes, including a brief shoving episode late in the match.
"Oh yeah, it was a pretty physical match," said Dang, also a senior. "We all knew it was going to be.
"I thought we had a few chances here and there, but they're just a great team overall. I'm actually envious of how they play because they are so fast and physical. It was a battle."
It stayed 1-0 Bruins until Ollie Joyner slipped a right-footed shot into the back of the net in the 59th on a crowded breakaway. Ravenwood quickly answered to thwart the Brentwood momentum just two minutes later on a Travis Born tally to pull within 2-1.
"We were trying to get into a rhythm there," Dang said. "And we had other chances, but we couldn't capitalize otherwise it's a totally different game."
Ravenwood coach Adam Harris said his team surrendered too much space for Brentwood to work.
"We can't give them that much room," he said. "We made three mistakes like that. We had to do a better job defensively, but that's high school soccer."
"The boys worked hard to the end and they have represented this program amazingly," he added, noting how this year's seniors were his first players as a JV coach at the Wilson Pike school. "This district is always the toughest and I'll say it, I think the state winner will come out of here."
Brentwood coach Mike Purcell said his team was all about clinching home field advantage in the regional tournament and it started with winning Tuesday. He called the Bruins third goal "poetic justice" after Aidan Parker provided the dagger in the 75th. Parker was carried off the field after a full-speed collision in the box with Ravenwood keeper Rob Dill that didn't result in one of the match's five yellow cards, but returned and broke loose for the final goal.
"It was a good game for us and we did a good job to come back and get that clincher after they found some rhythm there for a good 10 to 12 minutes," Purcell said. "We kept fighting and kept them out of the back of the net."
After Born's goal, Ravenwood produced back-to-back looks from Evan Waggoner and Eduardo Ferrari, but couldn't convert. Brentwood keeper Logan Stegall robbed Ferrari's look in the 66th and came away with a couple more stops down the stretch, including snagging a long ball inside the final 90 seconds intended for Jaydon Chisolm in front of the goal. The celebrations on and off the field for the Brentwood blue began shortly after.
"I told the guys to have a good time and even with all the pressure, I think they did that," Purcell added as his team carried a rowdy victory march onto the bus. A handful of former Bruins standouts also greeted the veteran coach on the way off the field.
"It was a good night," he said.
Brentwood will face second-seeded Franklin Thursday for the district title at Ravenwood. The Bruins have won five straight meetings with the Raptors, who ended the season with a 5-5-4 mark.
"This is the best feeling right now, but we aren't done" Greer said. "We will keep showing up, staying close and practicing every day. I think we'll be good to make a state championship run."
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