Brookline Suffers 2-0 Loss to Newton North

Coming off of an impressive 4-1 win Wednesday against Framingham, the Brookline Warriors looked primed for their rematch of the 2010 North Final with Newton North. Unfortunately it was never close, with North cruising to a comfortable 2-0 victory.  The dark rain clouds looming overhead all day acted as a pall over the Warriors as they had trouble getting started, as well as trouble finishing.  While the Brookline boys were not helped by the absence of several key starters, out due to injury, they were never really able to get an attack going all day .  The tone was set early as Newton marched down the field off the opening kick and sent a dangerous cross into the box which bounced around several times before being cleared away.  Brookline’s only real scoring chance came a few minutes later when senior winger Saman Abazari got through on a fifty-fifty ball with the Newton goalkeeper.  The Newton keeper did well to come off his line quickly and smother the scoring chance.  With a 0-0 score at halftime Brookline looked to tighten up its marking going into the second frame.  What’s more, the Warrior’s coaching staff looked to bring the defensive back four up to play as a more cohesive group with their midfield.  The Brookline backs had been on their heels quite a bit in the first half as they absorbed many long flighted balls over the top from the Newton central midfield. However, once play resumed in the second half things were much the same as the first frame, with Newton winning foot races with the Brookline back four and forcing one-on-one battles, battles which were won by Newton players.  With Newton seeming to have an inordinate amount of time to win the ball, settle the ball, and pick out passes, it was only a matter of time before they put the ball in the net.  Things came to a head in the 53 minute when some loose marking led to a Newton forward getting free up the middle of the field right between two Brookline backs.  Once past the Warrior defenders the Tiger striker ripped a shot which was deflected wide right by goalkeeper Miles Rubin. As Rubin scrambled to recover back across his goal, Newton’s Luke Westman ran in and tucked the ball in the goal for a 1-0 Tiger lead.  In fact, seven minutes later, it would be Westman who’d give Newton a 2-0 lead.  Brookline’s goalkeeper Miles Rubin fumbled a ball crossed into the box, and an opportunistic Westman pounced on the bouncing ball and popped it into the net.  As the final whistle blew the clouds thinned and the sun actually tried to crack a smile on the turf at Concord Carlisle High School, however no smiles were in sight for the Brookline Warriors as they walked off the field defeated and frustrated.  As music blared in the background two more teams began their warm-up in the Kicks for Cancer Charity event, but all of that was just noise to the Warriors who walked back to their bus for the long ride home.  Once home they would have a lot of work to do preparing for a tough week of games against Wellesley and Needham.  With the loss Brookline dropped to 4-3-1 on the season.