Behind two goals from Hayley Howard, the Brentwood girls' soccer team avenged a regular season loss against Franklin to extend its postseason with a 2-0 win in the District 12-AAA semifinals on an emotional Monday in front of several hundred fans at Franklin High School. The Lady Bruins entered just a day removed from the stunning news of the passing of a classmate. Brentwood players wore blue wrist bands marked with "No. 74" in honor of classmate Lucas Davis, a Brentwood junior and Bruin football player who was found dead Sunday morning. Both teams joined at center field for a short prayer and moment of silence before battling for the final Region 6-AAA tournament berth and a spot in the district championship Wednesday against Ravenwood. "This game had so much emotion because we lost one of our classmates this weekend and to be able to win for him was a really good thing for us and meant a lot for us," Brentwood keeper Kate Devine said. "It was all for the Davis family. I think we were motivated to play for him."

Brentwood coach Kersta Mello said her team's play was a stark difference from what she witnessed in the Lady Bruins 2-0 home setback against the Lady Rebels on Aug. 29. She was proud of how her girls represented themselves and played despite the emotional news surrounding the Brentwood community this weekend. "These girls have had a tough 24 to 48 hours, and the whole school and community has as well," Mello said. "I mean, our one goal was to come together and play as team tonight. They did that beautifully while playing some great soccer." Brentwood managed to control much of the tempo in the physical contest through the first half as neither team was able to capitalize on just a handful of opportunities on goal. The Lady Bruins had a pair of corner kicks come up empty and two shots on goal denied by Franklin keeper Jean Costello in the final 10 minutes of the opening half as both teams entered intermission scoreless. Mello said her and assistant coach Maggie McLaughlin didn't have much to critique her team on about the half. "But we wanted to build on it," she said. "That's what we told them at halftime … and defensively, unlike that first (game against Franklin), we remained checked in the whole game."

The Lady Rebels slipped a look in early in the second half when Harper White had a shot sail wide right in the 44th, but Brentwood stayed composed and continued to pressure Lady Rebel defenders. Howard's first tally came in the 48th when she converted a rebound among a cluster of players directly in front of the goal. "That one was all my teammates because it bounced out off a shot and I was just there for the touch," she said, noting the physicality of the contest. "Franklin is one of our biggest rivals so every time we face them it is an intense, hard battle." Both teams reached the Class AAA state semifinals last season, but after regular season losses to Ravenwood, only one team could extend its season Monday. Nine minutes after Howard's first goal, Morgan Greene fed a nifty pass to Olivia Olmstead by flicking the ball with her right heel while spinning between two defenders. Olmstead's shot from the right side of the 18 was batted down by Costello, but marked the growing pressure of the Lady Bruin attack. Greene was in on several looks like that one.  "We were fortunate the first time we played them to capitalize on a couple mistakes of theirs," Lady Rebel coach Mike Burgoyne said. "This time around we were on the other end of it." Howard deflated the Lady Rebels with a looping shot to the upper right of the goal just beyond the finger tips of Costello to make it 2-0 in the 64th. The tally came just three minutes after Devine wiped away a scoring opportunity from the Clemson commit White, who struggled to find many openings against the Brentwood center backs. Burgoyne liked how his team managed to find some looks early, but ultimately came away impressed by the Brentwood defense and keeper Devine. "We tried to push numbers forward and had a couple decent chances in the first half, but they have a great goal keeper," he said. "Kate (Devine) does a fantastic job and there are times you just can't get it in against her. Their center backs did well as well. "Nothing we did tonight seemed to work." Brentwood's Ellie Dash and Emma Rutherford both had good looks over the final 15 minutes. Dash's shot banged off the crossbar, while Rutherford had a shot deflected by Costello. The Lady Bruins outshot Franklin 10-4 in the second half.