The Knights found their offense in the second half as Oswaldo Trujillo’s two goals led Bremerton’s boys soccer team to a 3-1 road win against Kingston March 21.

Bremerton entered the matchup falling to North Kitsap 2-1 March 18, while the Buccaneers came in suffering a 5-1 loss to Sequim, their first loss in the Olympic League of the year.

“We kind of played bad in the first half, but [in] the second half we came out strong,” Trujillo said.

Both teams spent the first 10 minutes of the game feeling each other out. Nonetheless, Kingston controlled possession of the ball and generated multiple shots on goal for the majority of that strecth, limiting Knight possessions and keeping the ball in Bremerton territory.

Buccaneer senior midfielder Noah Epperson put in a goal at the 29-minute mark, highlighting Kingston’s aggressive offensive to start the game.

The Knights struggled to get shots on goal against Kingston senior goalkeeper Cean Kirkpatrick while the Bucs forced many shots on goal against Bremerton goalkeeper Rafael Alonzo Esteban.

The offensive trend continued for the Bucs as the half went on, continuing to force the ball into Knight territory by forcing many Bremerton turnovers and playing strong, sound defense through slide tackling.

The Knight offense began to find its way as the first half winded down, managing to generate some shots on goal of their own and forcing Kingston turnovers. Nonetheless, their efforts proved to be fruitless.

Kingston led at halftime 1-0.

“[We were] strengthening the defense and playing four [defensemen] in the back,” Kingston coach Craig Smith said.”I wanted a little more possession by dropping balls back to the outside fullbacks primarily, and we were doing that the first half.”

Both teams came out in the second half increasing the offensive tempo, with Bremerton generating more consistent shots on goal and controlling possession of the ball.

The Knights successfully produced fastbreak scoring opportunities for themselves as the second half went on. Trujillo put in a goal on a fastbreak, tying the game up at one apiece with 23 minutes remaining in the game.

Bremerton continued to generate fastbreak opportunities with Trujillo punching in another goal ten minutes later, giving the Knights their first lead of the game at two to one. Bremerton expanded on that with another goal from forward Cooper Stevenson, giving the Knights a two-goal lead with less than ten minutes remaining.

Buc senior forward Trevor Stanton and junior Wiliam Bonila were able to generate close shots on goal, but couldn’t get them in the net.

“We were getting frustrated with each other in the beginning, [but] coach told us to all calm down in the second half,” Knight senior midfielder Adrian Ortiz said.

Knight Juan Vazquez controls the ball with fellow Knight Adrian Ortiz and Buccaneer Noah Epperson in pursuit March 21 at Kingston High School.