By Don Ketchum

The soccer team from Phoenix Brophy Prep had several opportunities to score in the first half on Wednesday night (Jan. 19) against Chandler Hamilton in a battle of unbeatens at the Brophy Sports Campus.

But the Broncos couldn’t quite connect and trailed 1-0 at the half. They were searching for something. They found it in the second half.

What they found was the pace of the game, a more up-tempo style, with greater aggression on defense.

Kevin Grigsby scored the tying goal with 29:13 left and Sean Ayers produced what proved to be the game-winner at the 16:34 mark as Brophy rallied for a 2-1 victory.

Brophy raised its overall record to 17-0-1, while Hamilton fell to 14-1-3.

Hamilton played with a great deal of emotion in the first half, but Brophy’s athleticism took over.

“You could see the game starting to shift,’’ said Brophy coach Marc Kelly. “They (Hamilton) were starting to get a little tired.’’

Hamilton coach Nick Markette more or less agreed.

“It was a good game. We had our chances, but we missed a couple in the first half,’’ he said. “In the second half, the pace picked up and a track meet is not the game you want to play against them.

“What we need to do now is continue to get better. I think there is a good chance that we will see them again (in the state tournament).’’

Markette’s son, Michael, scored Hamilton’s goal on a header a little more than five minutes into the game. The Huskies couldn’t find the back of the net again as Nate Sundermeier did a good job in goal for Brophy.

Brophy’s Riggs Lennon had several opportunities in the first half, hanging out in front of the Hamilton goal, but was frustrated.

The Broncos talked at halftime about creating more opportunities, “and not to lose faith,’’ according to Ayers.

Brophy nearly got its first goal on a header with 31:19 left. Grigsby did the trick about two minutes later, lofting a shot just to the left of the keeper and over his head, but just under the crossbar.

Ayers scored his 20^th goal of the season to give Brophy a 2-1 lead, slipping the ball just past the keeper’s right side.

Ayers said he wasn’t sure the ball would get in at first, “but when it got past his (keeper’s) arm, I knew it was going in.’’

Things got a bit chippy in the late stages of the match, with officials warning both sides about being too physical.

One of the things that helped Brophy come back, according to Kelly, was that the team played several tough games against top-flight competition in a California tournament.

“We’ve been behind in a lot of games, so going to California challenged us. We have a mature group.’’