Bruins shake off rust in win

Halfway into the national anthem before the Rock Bridge Bruins girls’ soccer game Tuesday night, something odd happened. The music stopped.

Within seconds, the PA announcer announced to the crowd that the tape player had eaten the tape.

That was just one indication that the Bruins may still not fully be back in the swing of things after their 12-day spring break layoff last week. But, despite the break, the Bruins were able to top the Helias Crusaders 1-0.

Another indication was the deadlock that kept the game against Helias scoreless well into the second half.

“We were kind of nervous going into this, knowing that they had played over spring break,” senior Erin Bucko said. “So we were kind of nervous going back into it.”

They nearly ran out of time to get their nerves under control. But in the 33rd minute of the second half, Bucko passed to sophomore Kelsey Eckenrode who delivered a goal.

“Erin had a really nice ball and I was kind of surprised it got through to me — I thought it was going to go over my head,” Eckenrode said. “And I was going to try to cross it, but I thought my coaches might get mad so I shot it.”

The shot made the game 1-0, which is how the contest ended. The win moved the Lady Bruins to 2-1 on the season and the first time they eclipsed the .500 mark.

The Bruins credit the turnaround to going back to what they feel is “their game.”

“I think we were kind of falling back into Helias’ game at the beginning of the second half and then we decided to play our game,” said Eckenrode. “I thought that was the best game of our season so far.”

The Bruins travel to Overland Park, Kansas, today to take on Blue Valley Northwest.