“He hasn’t scored a lot for us this year because we’ve asked him to help control the middle of the field,” Mt. Abram coach Mark Lopez said. “But he certainly can.”

He can, and he did Monday.

Brackley’s boot just 2:05 into the second half was enough offense to lift the Roadrunners (6-1) to a pivotal 1-0 road win over Monmouth on Monday in a battle of one-loss MVC teams.

“I actually told him, before he got the goal, I told him, ‘You can’t be doing your cut moves in traffic,'” Lopez said. “‘If you have space to carry it, use that space.’ Right at the start of the half, he gets that space, makes one or two cuts and drills it.”

Brackley’s strike caught the Mustangs (6-2) off guard.

“They got one good break, we stabbed at the ball three times on that play,” Monmouth coach Joe Fletcher said. “We work so hard on containing the ball, so that’s what bothered me (on that play).”

Brackley got the ball on his foot about 30 yards from the cage. When he swiveled, he was surprised to see so much room. A few strides later, with a pair of defenders stepping into him at the 18, he drilled the ball low and hard, beating Monmouth keeper Kasey Smith.

“He has that kind of foot where, and it doesn’t matter left or right, if he gets the foot open, he puts it low and hard on net,” Lopez said.

Smith had a stellar day otherwise for Monmouth, stopping another Mt. Abram chance 10 minutes later that was labeled for the bottom left corner with a full extension dive to his right.

“(Smith) had a very good game,” Fletcher said. “I talked to him before and told him the Thomas coach was here to watch. I put the weight on his shoulders. I didn’t know whether I should or not, but he rose to the occasion. He played well.”

At the other end, Tristen Dyer earned the shutout with a 10-save effort, including a handful in the first half to keep the Mustangs off the board. He also stopped a pair in tight later in the second half.

“We have some great keepers in the league,” Lopez said. “Winthrop has a great keeper, (Smith) is a great keeper, we have a really good keeper up at Carrabec, and I know I’m missing another one. I know I am biased a but, but I don’t know if there’s a better one than (Dyer).”

After the Roadrunners scored their goal, the Mustangs changed formations in an attempt to find the equalizer.

“We came out a bit flat, and I don’t know why,” Fletcher said. “After they scored their goal, we went to a different formation. We went to a 2-3-2-3, and that took us a while to get adjusted to that new formation. But once we did, we were able to control the play and generate some chances. But their keeper played well.”

As evenly matched as the teams were Monday, both coaches said afterward they wouldn’t be surprised if a playoff rematch materialized.

“We knew they were good, and we played them to a standstill,” Fletcher said. “The effort was there. We had opportunities we just didn’t take advantage. Mark has them playing hard, they play good defense, and they get after it.”

“We’re very evenly matched, I think we’re maybe a little deeper than they are,” Lopez said. “I don’t know if that was the turning point today, though.”