For the first 39 minutes of play, it was just what one expected from a matchup of the Trico Division's top-two boys soccer teams.
The Columbia High and Ridgefield defenses held their ground and took turns thwarting each other's offense.
But in the last minute of the first half, the Spudders finally found a chink in the Bruins' armor when Ben Gertsen fired off a shot that hit its mark.
"They'd been pressuring all half and had nothing to show for it," said Bruins Coach Peter Knowles. "Our guys were playing very hard and very well together."
CHS's problem was that it expended most of its effort on the defensive end.
The Bruins' shot chart showed three first-half shots on goal; they got none in the second half as the Spudders stepped up their pressure and pulled away for a 3-0 victory.
Cheno Barajas, who got credit for one of the Bruins' rare shots attempts, received Knowles' player of the match award.
"Cheno had a well-placed shot on net in the first half but their goalkeeper was able to stop it," his coach noted.
Knowles said Ridgefield's quick reactions to the ball made it tough for CHS to maintain possession, let alone score.
"They really shut us down and wore us down because they made us work to follow their play," he said. "It was close on the scoreboard for a long time, but not long enough."
The win--its seventh overall--left Ridgefield undefeated in Trico play and alone atop the division standings. The loss, its first in league, dropped CHS down to second and ended a five-match winning streak.
On the plus side, if there is such a thing in a loss, Knowles said the Bruins learned a lot about themselves and their opponent for the next time they play.
"When you play a quality club like Ridgefield, you learn a lot about how to play defense," he said, adding, "I think our defense is getting better each game."
And if its scores against Ridgefield are the measuring stick for such improvement, Columbia just has to look at the results of past matches. Last year, the Bruins lost to the Spudders by scores of 9-0 and 4-0.
Columbia High 3, at Stevenson 2 --
The Bruins played a man down for the last 10 minutes of the April 12 Trico match and got a huge save by goalkeeper Juan Benavides in the late going to hang on for their fifth straight win.
Stevenson had a chance to tie the score with a penalty kick but Benavides--CHS's player of the match--made sure it didn't happen.
"Juan saved it and from that point on we rallied," Bruins Coach Peter Knowles said.
The Bulldogs pulled within 3-2 in the 67th minute on a penalty kick by Mark Kilpatrick.
Knowles said Benavides blocked the initial kick, but the ball bounced back to Kilpatrick and he finished what he'd started.
About three minutes later, the Bruins lost forward Demetrio Sanchez to a red card and had to go the rest of the way with 10 players. But it worked out in the end.
"It was good to have a close game, and to win it the way we did was good for our confidence," Knowles said.
Columbia spotted Stevenson an early lead--the Bulldogs scored 20 seconds into the match--but tied things up at 1-1 on a goal by Whitney Butler in the 33rd minute. Samuel Lachino got the assist.
In the second half, the Bruins took the lead in the 57th minute on Sanchez's team-leading seventh goal. Butler returned Lachino's favor in the 62nd, feeding him for a 3-1 CHS advantage.
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