Evan Haas stood with the ball in between his feet while facing the front of the goal.
The senior midfielder was awarded a penalty shot and ahead of the free play, he kept his head forward and stared into the goalie’s eyes in an attempt to anticipate the goalie’s move.
Haas waited for the keeper to giveaway his tendency as he thought about where to send his shot.
Winnisquam’s goalie remained still, so Haas knew the bottom corner was the ball’s destination. With his right foot, he sent the ball across the bottom left corner and it sank into the back of the net.
He played a big role in Bishop Brady’s 4-0 win over visiting Winnisquam on Wednesday afternoon at Shaker Road Field. The Green Giants captain led them over the Bears behind his three goals and off of both of his feet. Most soccer players have a dominant foot and while Haas is no exception to the rule, that doesn’t he mean he can’t score with his secondary.
Haas’ right foot is certainly his dominant and two of his three goals came off it. His left, however, is used when finesse and touch are needed to score.
“Outside of the box my left foot isn’t too good,” Haas said. “I took (the ball) around one of the defenders and I hit a far post on the ground with just a little finesse.”
A large part of the Giants (3-2) offense success in the weather-shortened victory came from more time getting comfortable running their offensive scheme. Fueled by have its wingers on the outside of the pitch charge up into its offensive end of the field, Brady was able to communicate passes from the defense and have its wingers crash into the front of the goal.
By crashing from the outside in, it allows the Giants to create havoc in front of the net, which is what coach Jordan Misiri looks for.
“We’re making progress every day in our training and try to carry what we work on into the games,” he said. “Overall, I’m happy with the results, but we still have work to do.”
One of the things Misiri wants to see his squad improve on is merely possessing the ball and not rushing the offense. A more controlled pace of the game will allow for the Giants to find success with not only their outside-in approach but their other schemes as well.
“I think the boys are understanding now what I want out of them in terms of using your teammates and being in the right position.”
Back at an above .500 record, Brady will continue to improve upon its success when it travels to Newfound on Friday with a 4 p.m. start.