Boys soccer: Redwood rallies with three late goals to stun Branson

Coming off of a dispiriting loss on Tuesday and trailing by a goal inside the final 10 minutes on Thursday, the Redwood High boys soccer team was facing a make-or-break moment.

The Giants, the two-time defending MCAL postseason champions, sent out a reminder of the quality they possess with three goals in under 7 minutes to storm back for a 3-1 home win against Branson.

“It was pretty big, a must-win game after the loss against (San Rafael),” said Jackson Tucker, who scored the first and third goals for Redwood. “I think going forward from here, we’re going to have even more confidence.”

The Bulls (3-4-2, 0-3-0 MCAL) took the lead in the 10th minute on a goal by Mateo Trammel and protected that lead until the 72nd minute. The Bulls had just defended a corner but Redwood (4-3-2, 1-1-1) got the ball back and attacked again.

“‘I got the ball on the wing and I saw (Ryder Clark) rolling inside,” Tucker said. “I played it to him. He had a pretty nice idea right there and back heels it right to me, very nice assist from him.”

Tucker finished inside the back post to give the Giants some much-needed momentum. Branson had held the Giants, who were coming off a 5-2 loss to San Rafael, relatively in check throughout the second half to that point.

“The game that we played on Tuesday was tough for us,” Redwood co-coach Adam Ure said. “It was one of our worst defeats with this group, this team of players, so to have them come out in this game and go down 1-0 early, they really just had to stay together in a group.”

Five minutes later, Redwood was at it again, winning a throw-in deep inside Branson’s final third. Desmond Cain launched a long throw into the 6-yard box over everyone but Cole Guerrero who headed the ball home for a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute.

“Cole Guerrero and Hunter (Genant), we called them up from JV yesterday,” Ure said. “Based off of the game on Tuesday, we thought we needed a little bit more help at the back, through a couple injuries as well. Cole’s been knocking in and around the squad for the past year so we thought we’d just give them their flowers today and have them with us for the rest of the season. So it was really good for him to not just make his varsity debut on this field but also to score the winning goal.”

Branson pushed forward to try to find a late equalizer but got caught out by a Redwood counterattack. Clark played a ball out wide to Van Bowers, who found Tucker for his second goal and a 3-1 lead.

“It’s just such a good experience for us to have had this much trouble in that game, going down to a problem that we’ve had all season which is conceding off set pieces,” Ure said. “Managing to get an equalizer then going two ahead, hopefully it’s a major turning point. It should be.”

Branson grabbed its 1-0 lead following a free kick taken by Kai Sarkar. Trammel had the initial shot which went wide of goal but Peter La Fleur kept the ball in play with a back-heel pass back to Trammel who cashed in on his second look at goal.

Redwood created two great scoring chances in the first half. Clark hit the crossbar following a free kick taken just outside the 18-yard box in the 20th minute. The Giants created another huge chance just before the half with a shot that Branson defender Will Swift cleared off the goal line.

Branson took the 1-0 lead into the half and had a couple of chances to double the advantage in the 48th minute. Chris Mao won the ball around midfield then passed the ball to Cooper Little, who played it back to Mao into space behind Redwood’s back line. Redwood goalie Nick Vicente came up with a huge save to keep the margin at 1-0.

Branson’s other big opportunity came in the 58th minute when Trammel took a free kick from around midfield. Trammel sent a long ball into the 18-yard box that Matyas Stanek headed toward Redwood’s goal but Vicente once again was there to make the save.

Branson’s defensive resolve finally broke inside the final 10 minutes as Redwood rallied to take all three points.

“Once they got the first then they had wind in their sails and we, unfortunately, I think we made some tactical decisions with the ball that played into Redwood’s second and possibly third goals,” Branson coach Tom Ryan said.

Around the county

• Terra Linda got goals from Reid Brandt, Charlie Ahlemeyer, and Jeffrey Hernandez en route to a 3-1 victory against Novato (0-4-1, 0-2-0) on Thursday. Brandt scored on a penalty kick then Ahlemeyer scored following an assist by Bohdi Iyer. Hernandez’s goal was unassisted and gave TL (5-3-2, 2-0-1) a 3-0 lead. Christopher Hernandez scored for the Hornets, assisted by Dylan Jenkins.
• Five different players scored for Archie Williams during a 5-2 victory against Marin Catholic (4-4-2, 0-2-1) on Thursday. Sean Chamberlin, Leo Grandmaison, Babu Virgo, Devin Singh, and Henry Miller found the back of the net for the Peregrine Falcons (8-3-1, 3-0-0), who play San Marin in a rescheduled game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
• Tam (7-2-3, 1-0-1) rolled to a five-goal halftime lead en route to a 6-0 win against San Marin (0-7-4, 0-1-1) on Thursday. Mateo Hale and Luke Nurney had two goals apiece while Declan Murphy and West Freau each had one. Marco Caruso had a game-high two assists. Jack Milette, Freau, Kenneth Frost, and Kieran Conrady all had one assist.