Broadneck Boys Soccer Finding Growth As Season Progresses

Having graduated 12 seniors and having only five on the 2024 squad, the Broadneck boys soccer season was always going to be a work in progress.

The 5-4 record indeed indicates the ups and downs that come with a younger team gaining experience, but the trend is up for the boys in maroon and black.

“I love this group of guys. They have great attitudes and they’re working hard to become more consistent as the season progresses,” said longtime Bruins head coach Sean Tettemer. “The consistency is starting to get there, even if the results don’t always show it.”

The growth has had to come from all over the field: Broadneck returned 2023 co-leading scorer Wilson Banwell, with plenty of opportunities for rotation players or junior varsity promotions to make their mark.

There have been moments all over the pitch. Junior forward Braeden Kelly leads the team with eight goals, seven of which came in the first six games of the season. When he started to cool off, senior midfielder Jed Meehan and junior fullback Lewis Tippin stepped in. Each has four goals, second-best on the team.

“I wasn’t really trying to put myself in the middle of everything; I was just making my run, and my teammates would find me in a good position,” Kelly said. “It’s way more important that we get goals from a lot of different places, because that takes the pressure off of us and makes it harder for our opponents.”

In total, 12 players have goal involvements on the season for Broadneck, whose 28 goals have come from nine players, plus one opponent’s own goal. Eighteen of the goals have been assisted, also by nine players.

The midfield, anchored by senior leader Meehan and junior playmaker T.J. Remson, has connected defense to attack and sought to impose itself on and off the field. The defense, led by senior center-back pairing Beau Leigh and Eli DeWalle, has helped shepherd the team’s goalkeeping duo, junior Joe Brenner and sophomore Dalton Bashore, through the growing pains of trying to replace a four-year starter in Matt Tettemer. The pair has combined for 31 saves and four clean sheets this season.

The leadership on the team coalesced around a handful of sophomores, juniors and seniors, with those players setting the example for the rest.

“It's the guys who are passionate about the game and care about the group, and when guys are down, they’re the ones that try to lift the group,” Meehan said. “Those are our leaders, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re seniors or not. It’s a full group.”

That full group has been bonding through a number of ways to integrate the number of new players into a unit as quickly as possible.

“I’ve just been trying to get to know each of the guys as an individual and help acclimate everyone to the group together,” DeWalle said. “That’s really important to make the group unified. We try to help lead the guys on and off the pitch, what to do, how to handle things, and we’re starting to get comfortable with everyone now. … I think we can do some great things before it’s over.”

Broadneck started the season with a pair of losses to Mount Hebron (4-2) and River Hill (3-1) on September 7, followed by a 2-0 win over Crofton on September 10. They lost to St. Mary’s 2-1 in a game they felt they could have had on September 12, but then reeled off three straight wins over Chesapeake Science Point (8-0), Severn Run (6-0) and Southern (2-1) the following week.

The last of those wins may have marked a turning point: having gone behind from the penalty spot in the second half, the Bruins steeled themselves and found a way to win on the road. Halfway through the second half, Bashore made a diving save to deny a Southern forward who had broken through the defense. Less than two minutes later, senior winger Will Epley equalized on a scramble in the Southern penalty area. With five minutes remaining, Epley found Banwell with a long clearance, and the sophomore headed it on to Kelly, who beat the keeper to the ball and smashed in the winner.

Though they lost 4-1 against Severna Park on September 24, in a game they felt was far closer than the score suggested, that was followed by an emphatic 5-0 shutout of Arundel two nights later.

The three-game sequence, each providing its own challenges, has given the Bruins great cause for optimism as the season continues.

“I think Severna Park was actually a great step forward for us, despite the result not going the way we wanted,” said Tettemer. “That was the closest to a consistent, complete-game effort that we’ve had all season, and then against Arundel, we pretty much matched that. If we can keep that level up, we’re going to see a lot of improvement by the end of the season.”