Newfound scoring option propels Brighton past Okemos in district soccer
OKEMOS — Being heavily reliant on two soccer players to generate most of its goals hasn’t been a problem for Brighton, because Devlin McGinnis and Colin Robertson have consistently delivered.
But having a third scoring option emerge makes the Bulldogs tougher to defend.
In fact, they might not still be playing this season if junior Owen Buckley hadn’t found his scoring touch sometime after midseason.
Buckley scored the game’s only goal with 33:37 left in the second half, giving Brighton a 1-0 victory over Okemos Thursday night in a first-round Division 1 district game.
It was Buckley’s fifth goal in the past eight games after he scored only one in the first 11. He has assisted on six goals.
“He’s an ultra-talented kid,” Brighton coach Mark Howell said. “Early in the season, the goals weren’t falling his way, but it was just a matter of time. Lately, he’s been on a good stretch of finishing those chances. His confidence is soaring. That’s such a big part of our game. We all believe in him, and I think now he believes in himself.”
McGinnis is Brighton’s leading scorer with 19 goals and four assists, followed by Robertson with seven goals and 14 assists. After that, Buckley and Cade Arnold (two goals) are the only Bulldogs with more than one goal.
“I’m just trying to get some goals in,” Buckley said. “I’m not the biggest goal scorer ever, but that’s all right; I get a lot of assists. It was good to get another one in the goal. (McGinnis and Robertson) are great goal scorers, but I’m just happy to get more in so we don’t just rely on them.”
Buckley’s goal came after Robertson took a free kick from about 30 yards out on the left side of the field. The ball ended up on the foot of junior Cayden Tadros, who fed it over to Buckley for a tap-in.
Going the distance
Brighton has split its goaltending duties in every game this season, starting sophomore Reece Meyer and having senior Charlie Burchfield play the second half.
For the postseason opener, Burchfield played the entire game, making eight saves for the shutout.
“It’s definitely different,” Burchfield said. “Going into the first half, I’m a little bouncy, but I was able to get my groove going in the first couple minutes. In the second half, I’m just totally confident. I have a lot of experience in the second half, so I was totally confident.”
Howell said Burchfield’s aggressive style of play was a better fit because of injuries on the back line. On a few occasions, he acted as an extra defender by coming up high in the box to clear the ball.
“His style of play is a little bit unconventional, but it helps protect our back line,” Howell said.
District title streak ends
The loss ended Okemos’ run of four consecutive district championships against a team it beat 1-0 in overtime in a district semifinal last season.
The Wolves also had an eight-game unbeaten streak end. They were 7-0-1 in their last eight regular-season games after a 3-7-1 start, allowing only one goal during that run.
“Unbelievable turunaround,” Okemos coach John Folino said. “The kids just believed and they knew how good they were. The results didn’t go our way early, but they kept fighting. They could have easily given up, but that’s not these kids; they’re never going to give up. Sometimes this game’s not fair. Credit to Brighton — unbelievable team, great coach, great bunch of kids, work their tails off and they got one.”
It was a typical Brighton-Okemos game, the 21st in the last 24 between the teams with a margin of one goal or a tie.
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What's next?
Brighton (14-3-2) advances to the district semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Holt to face the host Rams (10-7-1). Hartland will face East Lansing at 5 p.m. in the other district semifinal.
The winners will meet for the district championship at 7 p.m. Thursday at Holt.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Newfound scoring option pushes Brighton past Okemos in district soccer
