East boys down visiting Laramie

“We were playing through the middle, playing together as a team, moving it around, switching it and finding the through-balls,” East senior Connor Kling said. “We played together as a team, and those little 1-2 passes instead of playing it long all the time are really helping out.

“We’re getting a lot of guys into the middle of the field pinging it around and playing our game.”

In the 12th minute, Brenden Bohlmann got into the left side of the penalty area with Laramie defender Catcher Panell draped on him. Bohlmann got a low shot off and past Plainsmen keeper Declan O’Conner as he neared the goal line for a 1-0 East lead.

O’Conner kept Liam Taylor from extending the T-Birds’ lead in the 15th. Taylor ran on a long pass down the right side of the penalty area that left him alone with O’Conner, who charged out and turned away a close shot for a rebound that eventually earned East a corner kick.

A Connor Kling shot in the 47th hit O’Conner and then got past him but, somehow, managed to spin back out toward the field. Kling stood with his arms outstretched before placing both hands on the back of his head in disbelief.

The Plainsmen were called for a handball in the penalty area during East’s ensuing corner kick. Bohlmann stepped to the spot and sent a shot to his right past O’Conner for a 2-0 T-Birds’ lead in the 48th.

“We are starting to gel and there’s a log of cohesiveness,” Stratton said. “There are a lot of guys getting involved in the play and we are figuring out how each of us plays and getting connected to the style of each other. That cohesion is really starting to blend.

“We have a lot of learning, but you can tell they’re starting to take to what’s being taught.”

Laramie cut the lead in half with a penalty kick in the 54th.

East senior defender Owen Raymond was called for handball in the penalty area and Karson Busch easily scored on the penalty kick to trim the advantage to 2-1.

T-Birds goalkeeper Jaxon Miller made the most hair-raising save he needed in the 64th. Laramie was awarded a direct kick from left of the frame on an East yellow card. The Plainsmen sent a high shot toward the middle of the goal that Miller played away to maintain the one-goal lead.

Laramie earned nine corner kicks to East’s five, but it was able to muster just that one dangerous chance. It was out-shot by the T-Birds 11-6 overall and 7-3 in shots on goal.

“Our energy level was not what it needed to be in the finishing third,” Laramie coach Andy Pannell said. “We weren’t able to combine, get in behind and be really dangerous. We had some good chances in the first half, but not as many in the second half.

“The overall level of communication wasn’t there. We’re a little too quiet and timid. Teams that talk and demand the ball have a life to them. We’re a little too quiet and timid for my liking, so that has to change.”

East set out to delay the Plainsmen and not give them the time and space needed to get shots off, Stratton said.

“They’re a good team, and they’ll punish you if you give them time,” the coach said. “Cutting down on that time was a point of emphasis coming in. We wanted to force the ball back and be conscientious about who we were marking.”

EAST 2, LARAMIE 1

Halftime: East 1-0.

Goals: East, Br. Bohlmann (Taylor), 12. East, Br. Bohlmann (penalty kick), 48. Laramie, Busch (penalty kick), 54.

Shots: Laramie 6, East 11. Shots on goal: Laramie 3, East 7. Saves: Laramie 5 (O’Connor), East 2 (Miller).

Corner kicks: Laramie 9, East, 5. Offsides: Laramie 1, East 0. Fouls: Laramie 11, East 12. Yellow cards: Laramie 4 (Mellizo, 22. Kaiser, 48. Hunter, 67. Villasenor, 71); East 3 (Lissman, 20. Taylor, 32. Ramirez Munoz, 64).