By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence did almost all the work and had nothing to show for it.
After falling behind early, the Stars dominated shots, possession and chances with a sharp second-half blitz, yet came up empty as Silver Creek clawed to a 2-0 victory in the season opener on Saturday.
The Dragons (1-0) struck quickly with a goal in the first eight minutes, added another goal just before halftime, then withstood BNL’s fierce attack in the second half as senior goalie Reuben LaMaster turned away four prime BNL opportunities to get on the scoreboard.
The Stars owned an 11-2 advantage in shots. Both of Silver Creek’s found the net. None of BNL’s did.
“We’re going to do a lot of finishing drills,” BNL coach Ryan Otis said. “We probably had seven shots that could have been goals.
“We gave up that goal and started to press a little. We never lost our dominance in the game, but credit Silver Creek because that’s what they do. They give up possession and counter attack, and they caught us.”
Silver Creek posted its first goal at 32:40 in the first half as Charlie Aguilar gathered a pass and won a race with a defender on the right wing. The Dragons made it 2-0 when Jaxon Fuller beat the defense at 8:55.
That was all the Dragons got. And it was enough.
“That wasn’t by plan,” Creek coach Patrick Anderson said. “We were hoping to match that first-half intensity in the second half. They definitely outplayed us in the second half. They had more scoring opportunities. Give them credit, they came out more aggressive and owned the second half. Fortunately they didn’t have any goals to show for it.
“We put too much pressure on our goalie. He had to make some really good saves back there.”
Despite the scoreless debut, Otis noticed considerable improvement.
“They played the game we wanted, physical and the intensity never dropped off,” he said. “Those were two things that kind of waned last year, so from those perspectives it was a great game.”
The Stars will host Scottsburg on the football turf on Tuesday.
