After going winless in their first three matches of the season, the Bellmont Braves have now picked up four in a row as they head into a rematch of last year’s regional championship against Leo.
Playing an admittedly “more than tough” schedule to start the year, there was little worry from coach Lee in the first two weeks of the season when the Braves faced Homestead and traveled to South Bend for their annual opening weekend tournament. Now, the Braves haven’t lost since they spent the night in their South Bend hotel and the team was able to celebrate a win over Canterbury Saturday.
Making sure to note that his team was focused on the task at hand of playing at Leo Monday, coach Lee said a win over Canterbury is always something to be excited about.
“We played great and you will always take a win over them,” said Lee Monday about the Cavaliers, who prevented the Braves from reaching the State Finals back in 2015 with a shootout win in the sectional final. Canterbury went on to win a state title that year and Lee worked hard to eventually bring the program onto his team’s schedule in recent years.
The Braves got goals from three different players in the 3-1 win in Fort Wayne.
“One player who is really playing well right now is sophomore Lilly Alberding,” noted Lee of the player who scored once and assisted on the other two goals.
Carly Gilbert scored her seventh goal and the 77th of her career, while also adding an assist in Alberding’s goal. Gilbert led the team with 14 shots.
Arabelle Laurent also scored for the Braves.
Taylor Louis made seven saves, allowing just one goal to Canterbury’s Addie Sigler. Emily Barton played ten minutes in goal for the Braves.
“Now we have to find a way to beat them on turf,” said coach Lee of his team’s quick turnaround to face Leo. A solitary, second-half goal by the Lions at Norwell in last year’s regional final gave the eventual state runner-ups a win on the artificial surface last October.
The Braves and Lions were set to kick off at 7 p.m. Monday night.
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