BUCHANAN — Brandywine girls soccer player Brooke Smith is in scoring position anytime she kicks the ball.

She proved that in Tuesday’s BCS Athletic Conference game against Buchanan.

Smith scored from 40 and 25 yards and helped the Bobcats rally past the Bucks, 3-1.

Buchanan, which was playing its season-opener, went into halftime with a 1-0 lead after getting a goal from Jada Meahl with 12:12 left in the first half. Meahl’s goal was from 20 yards.

Brandywine had only five shots on goal in the second half, but was able to score on three of them.

Smith’s 40-yard free kick goal with 36:50 left in the game tied the game at 1. Her goal from 25 yards gave the Bobcats the lead for good at 2-1 with 8:28 remaining.

“That’s like her shot back there,” said Brandywine girls soccer coach Evan Winkler about Smith’s long range accuracy. “I think she’s better when she’s farther out because she can really let it rip. She has a great foot and great accuracy. At halftime, she was kind of frustrated a little bit because she wasn’t getting her shots on goal. She went out there (in the second half) and put two shots in the corner of the net. That was good to see. It was good to have the momentum shift in our direction in the second half.”

Brandywine’s final goal came from Jaleesa Garner with :45 left. The score came from five yards and it was Garner’s second goal of the year. She scored the Bobcats lone goal in a 1-0 season-opening win over Hartford.

“We may have gone into the second half a little overconfident and underestimated (Brandywine) coming back so strong,” said Buchanan first-year girls soccer coach Kate Coules.

Brandywine goalie Sloan Kangas finished with nine saves, including six in the second half.

“Sloan made some big saves in that second half that we really needed to keep the game close,” Winkler said. “That was huge. We need Sloan to make those saves at times and she stepped up and did it.”

 

BRANDYWINE 3, BUCHANAN 1

Halftime Score

Buchanan 1, Brandywine 0

 

First Half

BU – Buchanan_Jada Meahl 12:12

 

Second Half

BW – Brooke Smith 36:50

BW – Smith 8:28

BW – Jaleesa Garner :45

 

Shots On Goal

Buchanan 14, Brandywine 10

 

Saves

Brandywine 9 (Sloan Kangas)

Buchanan 2 (Amber Wingrove 2

 

Corner Kicks

Brandywine 1

Buchanan 6

 

Varsity records: Brandywine 2-0, Buchanan 0-1