MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Cleveland’s reward for making the Class AAA state soccer tournament for the first time in school history was a match Wednesday night against the state’s No. 1 team.

Brentwood stayed undefeated with a 2-0 victory over the Blue Raiders, but coach John Brose said his players didn’t come to the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex intimidated.

“Obviously it’s not the ideal draw, but once you get to this level, everybody’s going to be good,” Brose said. “We knew that coming in. Our guys were ready to play, but we just came up on the short end of it.”

The Bruins (22-0) struck early with a ball that Cleveland couldn’t clear out of the box in the second minute. Nick DeSalvatore was there to finish it, forcing the Raiders to play the rest of the match from behind.

“That was tough,” Brose said. “It wasn’t the most glorious goal by any means, but it put us in the hole early. We fought back, and we had our opportunities. I think it’s a totally different game if that first one doesn’t go in early.”

Although the Blue Raiders had several chances to equalize, they couldn’t get a ball past Brentwood keeper Jordan Leedle, and the Bruins’ Tomi Homonnay added a score in the 29th minute. The teams battled in the second half of the match that featured 10 yellow cards and three soft reds, but neither could find the net.

Adam Gonzalez made 11 saves as Cleveland finished the season 18-6.

“I’m proud of our guys and the season that we’ve had,” Brose said. “We’ve taken a lot of steps forward. I thanked all my senior guys for the hard work they’ve put into our program, and hopefully we can get back to this stage again and do a little more damage.”

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