Vindication.
Simply put, that’s what Brave SC is after this weekend in a rematch with Brooke House FC.
“Being so dominant there and only coming away with one point was really frustrating for us,” forward Nico Diaz said of the teams’ first meeting, “so we’re going into this one to make it a point that we’re going to win every game that we play.”
The Buffalo (1-0-2) outplayed the Lions (0-3-3) in the first tilt between the two Central Florida clubs last week, but came away from that May 29 contest with just a point after a late Brooke House equalizer, an early low point for Brave.
“It definitely felt like they took more than two points,” head coach Anderson DaSilva said. “It felt like a loss.”
The Buffalo generated 19 shots in that match, 12 of them on goal, and scored just one — a strike from Diaz in the 81st minute that looked as though it would stand as the winner until the Lions equalized in the 89th.
“We definitely felt like we could have gotten a better result at their house,” forward Agustin Iusem said. “We were just starting to get to know each other, but, apart from everything, we had more chances to put them away and we just had to keep them from scoring.”
Finishing has been a huge point of emphasis in training over the last two weeks after the Buffalo were limited to a single goal in each of their first two contests — both ties. After a 5-0 win over Brevard SC in last Saturday’s home opener, though, they feel they’ve become stronger as a unit and begun to realize their offensive potential.
“I think getting that five-nil result was important for us coming off of back-to-back draws,” Diaz said. “We knew that we could be clinical like that, but having it on paper was a confidence-booster going into this next game against Brooke House.”
Brave SC is also starting to see what exactly they need to accomplish as the results start to fill USL League Two’s Southeast Division table. The Buffalo currently sit third behind Florida Elite and Nona FC, each of whom have played more games, but will face each other in an important match during the Buffalo’s battle with Brooke House.
“Right now, some teams have played more games than others, so it’s tough to tell, but it’s always something that’s in the back of our minds if we want to win titles, to do better than our opponents,” Iusem said. “We just have to take it one game at a time and go from there.”
Brave SC and Brooke House FC will kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8 at The Range at The Villages Charter Middle School.
For more information on Brave SC, including the roster and a complete schedule, visit BraveSC.com.