The Branham girls soccer team hosted Leland on its Senior Night last Tuesday, but the Chargers ended up doing most of the celebrating with a 2-1 win. The Chargers (11-4-2, 10-3-1 BVAL-MH) ended up in second place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division, while the Bruins (10-8-2, 8-5-1) wound up third.
Leland took advantage of a late penalty call to emerge with the victory. In the 78th minute, senior midfielder Celeste Kashooek was fouled in the box in a huge jumble and was rewarded a penalty kick.
Choosing to take the kick, Kashooek buried her penalty kick in the bottom left corner with great accuracy.
After the two teams shook hands and cooled down, Branham star forward Fatmata Kamara recalled her last four years as a Lady Bruin soccer player.
"These past years have been amazing and I know there will always be a special place for these girls in my heart," said Kamara, who is committed to Long Beach State next year. "Win or lose, we became a closer team and I'm looking forward to CCS."
Both teams qualified for the CCS playoffs, which start Wednesday; Leland opens Division I play at Menlo-Atherton while Branham travels to Presentation for a Division II match.
"Branham always gives us good competition and I respect them for that," Kashooek said. "It's always exciting to play against collegiate talents and it only makes us better."
Within the first 10 minutes, Branham seemed to hold more of the possession and attacked the goal right away. The Bruins had the first three shots of the game in a single sequence and two were on net.
The Leland goalkeeper handled the ball well and was able to slow the game down for the Chargers. It was easy to see that the Lady Bruins were hyped on their special night and their energy was high. As the game calmed, a few players on both sides seemed to take the game over for their team.
For Branham, senior forward Fatmata Kamara did the majority of the attacking for the Bruins. For Leland, several players stood out. Kashooek and fellow senior midfielder Anahita Asefirad distributed the ball around the Branham defense and helped create a lot of chances for the Chargers.
Although Leland seemed to have more valuable chances on net, the shot differential was never overwhelming, and Branham was able to take a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute. Senior midfielder Maddy Myslinski gave Kamara a through ball to the corner. Kamara cut in, and hit what seemed to be a cross.
Crashing the box to stop a potential goal was a Leland defender who instead flicked the ball into her own goal. Shortly after, in the 36th minute, Leland answered back when Asefirad received a ball from the back and sent in a cross to midfielder, Lisa Schill, who crashed onto the ball hard and guided it into the net. Going into half both teams had a goal and Leland out-shot Branham 6-4, but both schools had three on target.
