Boys soccer: Branson ends drought with first NCS title in 15 years

Senior Jonah Sher knew the Bulls had a crucial opportunity to secure their destiny, and he wanted to share that moment with his Branson School teammates.

“This one, it’s been coming for a long time, and I couldn’t be more happy to give this Branson program an NCS title,” said Sher, who scored a dramatic second-half goal and powered the Branson attack as the No. 2 Bulls surged to a 5-3 victory over top-seeded Petaluma to capture the North Coast Section Division IV championship Saturday evening, ending a 15-year drought.

Branson last won the NCS D-II title in 2011, when the program played in the fall. The Bulls are now heading to the Northern California Regionals, which start Tuesday.

“”I think back to when I was a freshman, and even before when I was in eighth grade, watching everyone play, and it looks so big,” Sher said. “To think that this special group of seniors is now leading the charge and winning an NCS title, it’s hard to imagine, and it means so much coming from Branson.”

Junior Larry Calle LaBou, who competes with MLS Next in Santa Rosa, scored twice in the first half for the Bulls, and Mateo Trammel and Jaya Breene scored second-half goals.

“Larry was spot on for both goals early on, and he might have scored three or four goals if he hadn’t gotten hurt,” Branson head coach Tom Ryan said. “He had a fantastic start.”

Branson senior goalkeeper Niccolo Machotka-Farley had seven saves against 11 shots from a powerful Trojans offense, which tied the score at two goals each just before halftime.

“If you tell me we’d be tied with these guys 2-2 at halftime of the NCS final at the No. 1 seed’s home field, I’d take it,” Ryan said. “That means it’s a new game. The opportunity is there.”

The Bulls seized that opportunity 15 minutes into the second half when Sher took the throw-in that found junior Breene in front of the net as the Bulls crashed the box. Breene got a head on the ball and on the bounce drove it past Petaluma goalkeeper Miguel Calderon Gomez for the go-ahead goal 15 minutes into the second half.

“We’re a team that thrives on set pieces,” Sher said. “Set pieces have always been something that we’ve tried to score on. Having a throw-in, we have some fun corner plays that keep it loose. But at the end of the day, we’re looking for a quality ball in, and we have a couple of guys who can jump really high and have quality in terms of finishing.”

Twelve minutes later, Sher came off the bench to take another throw-in toward the box. but Gomez turned back the attack. The Bulls regrouped and speedy Drew Holden sent a high cross to Sher, who went airborne to connect with a header into the net that caught Gomez off guard for a 4-2 Bulls lead.

“I knew it was a matter of me putting myself in the right position,” Sher said. “I saw the ball, I didn’t think I was going to get there, to be honest, because it was pretty high up. But all I can do is think about all the training we did in the weight room to increase our (vertical leaps). I got lucky, hit it in the noggin, and was lucky to put one away.”

The Trojans roared right back with 10 minutes of regulation to play. Machotka-Farley lunged to stop a shot, but junior Joey Bunting was right there in the scrum to put the rebound in the back of the net, making it a one-goal game.

Trammel pushed the Bulls lead back to two a few minutes later with a header into the net. Machotka-Farley then locked down the net, even as the Trojans brought Gomez up as an extra attacker, late in the game to secure the win and the title.

“We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, so I think this title is a really good way for us to show that we’re a good group of guys,” Machotka-Farley said. “We had a couple of hard losses early in the season and that was a shock to the system. That changed our mentality and brought us closer, propelled us to play more consistently.”