By PIERCE GREENBERG
For Brentwood Home Page
Brentwood junior L.C. McNiel fired a shot midway through the second half against Centennial that made a loud thud as it deflected off the bottom of the goalpost. The scene summed up an evening of missed opportunities for the No. 18 nationally ranked Bruins (11-0-3).

After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, Brentwood scored two quick goals to open the second half, but wouldn’t find the net again. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.

“It comes down to finishing,” Brentwood soccer head coach Mike Purcell said. “We had many opportunities that we didn’t finish.”

In the first half, Centennial took advantage of their opportunities. Junior Clayton Martin hammered a free kick through a wall of defenders in the eighth minute to start the scoring for the Cougars.

“We knew they were good on the restarts,” Purcell said.

Matt Levesque then knocked in a rebound to give Centennial a two-goal lead.

“They capitalized on the errors we made in the first half. We hit a lag after a few early chances, and they took advantage,” Purcell said.

During halftime, Purcell told his team that they needed to increase their intensity — and they did.

After a corner kick and a header, the ball bounced towards senior Patrick Brooks, who crushed it into the back of the net for Brentwood’s first goal.

Several minutes later, junior defender Matt England unleashed a curving free kick that bounced into the back of the net.

But from there on out, Centennial’s defense clamped down—and scoring chances on both ends of the field came up empty.

When the dust settled, the Bruins had outshot Centennial 24-6.

Next week, Brentwood has crucial district games against Ravenwood on Tuesday and Franklin on Thursday.

“We have to play 80 minutes,” Purcell said. “We just have to keep battling back.”