Bremen's run comes to end

Bremen went down fighting.

The Braves dropped a 2-0 decision to St. Joseph in their Class 2A supersectional on Tuesday night, despite outshooting the Chargers by a 2-1 margin before about 200 fans at Benedictine University in Lisle.

Bremen coach Steve Granat didn't want to say his team had outplayed St. Joseph, but Chargers coach Stan Niemiec did.

"We didn't come ready to play," Niemiec said. "They did, and they outplayed us. They deserved to advance."

Style points were missing from the scoreboard. Instead, the tally displayed the goals from Marco Gutierrez, who scored exactly six minutes into the second half, and Alex Gutierrez, whose 28-yard free kick score somehow eluded Braves goalkeeper Mick Goulding just 2 minutes, 35 seconds later.

"We made a couple mistakes," Granat said. "I told the kids at the beginning of the season, 'The teams that win state are the teams that make the least amount of mistakes.' Like the mistake we made around No. 8."

That was junior Marco Gutierrez, who, after Alejandro Garcia marked him tightly through the first half and the first minutes of the second half, raced in on left wing and hammered a 12-yard shot over Goulding's head to open the scoring.

"You can't make mistakes around him," Granat said of St. Joseph's leading scorer. "That's what cost us today."

Alex Gutierrez's goal from long range was the double-whammy, which forced Bremen (19-4-2) to force the issue on St. Joseph (16-6-2).

"I knew he was going to be able to strike it," Marco Gutierrez said of Alex Gutierrez. "Mr. Cool, he got his goal."

"I don't know how that got in," Granat said. "It looked impossible where we were standing, but he snuck it in."

Bremen, which outshot St. Joseph 25-12, was not without its chances. In the early minutes, forward Manuel Villalobos was saved from close range by Chargers goalkeeper Jovani Castanon on a corner kick set piece. Midway through the second half, the Braves' big surge began when Alexander Estrada was saved from 25 yards, and continued when Ruben Ortega's free kick was blocked. Estrada was saved from point-blank range with 10:28 remaining.

"Hats off to their 'keeper," Granat said. "He was phenomenal. We had point-blank shots and he was stopping everything. That's the best 'keeper I've ever seen."

That wasn't all. Bremen striker Josh Techiera, closely marked all night, finally got loose with just over three minutes remaining. Fed by Ortega, Techiera's first shot went wide to the left of the goal. A minute later, Castanon saved Techiera's hard shot, which was set up by Garcia.

But the Chargers were on the board, and the Braves were not.

"I am disappointed in the way it ended, but very content on the progress we made from their freshman year to their senior year," Granat said of his senior-dominated team. "They have nothing to be ashamed about. They deserve this Elite Eight status."

CLASS 3A NORMAL WEST SUPERSECTIONAL Edwardsville 2, Andrew 1 (2 OTs)

Cameron Lauchner's goal with 7 minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the second sudden-death overtime period lifted Edwardsville (19-4) to victory. Gregg Flores also scored for the Tigers.

Matt Ribbens provided the goal for Andrew (18-6).

Contributing: Correspondent Josh Krockey.