By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Soccer has been known as the “beautiful game” since the glory days of Pele, and even the late Brazilian master would have graced Bedford North Lawrence with a wink of satisfaction for the sheer grace and picturesque quality of its offense on Tuesday night.
Even with Scottsburg in a total defensive mode and posture, daring the Stars to wade through the gauntlet of defenders on one end, BNL worked some magic during a crisp 8-0 victory over the Warriors on the turf at BNL Field. J.D. Miskuf scored twice and Adriano Sullivan distributed four assists as the Stars (1-1) broke through for their first win of the season.
Nothing was prettier than the Brayden Patterson header off a corner kick, nothing was sharper than the 20-yard rockets from Noah Childers and Manual Morales. BNL’s ground-based, possession-focused attack sliced through Scottsburg without difficulty.
“We started with the intensity we had on Saturday (during the opening loss to Silver Creek), which was good,” BNL coach Ryan Otis said. “We did drop off a little bit, but it’s hard when you’re playing a team that’s dropping back in that shell, for us to break through it. We were able to finish some.”
Sullivan got BNL rolling with his first goal, a speed thrust from the right wing at 29:14 of the first half. Miskuf tallied his first at 16:56 when he intercepted a pass and dribbled in to beat overworked Scottsburg goalie Charlie Kundysek to the right corner of the net.
Patterson’s fantastic header, off a Sullivan corner at 3:44, capped the first-half assault.
J.D. Russell started the second-half barrage with a goal off a Sullivan pass at 35:59. Daniel Loudin-Magnuson cracked a wicked shot off a defender and into the net at 32:56, and Childers connected from long range at 30:20.
“A couple of our defensive guys are actually good finishers, so when they’re able to get up on those corners and free kicks, it’s pretty good for us,” Otis said.
Morales got into the action at 21:36 when the Warriors failed to clear the ball out of range, and Miskuf recorded his second with a rebound blast off a Sullivan shot at 15:24.
“We were focusing on possession, and I think we did a good job,” Miskuf said. “We can still fix a few things, but that’s how it’s supposed to look. We had some good shots, which is what we look for. We have to keep it up. We’re going to make a statement this year.“
The Stars, playing like they were possessed, launched 22 shots. Scottsburg’s only real threat was its last surge, when BNL goalie Owen Williams had to make a sensational diving save in the final 30 seconds to preserve the shutout.
“It’s good to play this game, but we need to be getting ready for games going forward,” Otis said.
BNL will visit Mitchell on Thursday.
