Gwinnett Daily Post

Staff Photo: Brendan Sullivan Brookwood celebrates their 1-0 victory over Parkview during boys high school soccer action at Brookwood High School on Friday.

SNELLVILLE -- Brookwood won the Region 8-AAAAA soccer title with a 1-0 victory over Parkview on Friday.

The win, which gave the Broncos their first region crown in five years, was all because of defense. The Broncos held Parkview scoreless and nearly shot-less in the rivalry and title bout.

"Not only did we win the region against our rival, but we also did it by shutting them out," said Brookwood head coach Danny Klinect. "Our defense stepped up and only allowed one shot on goal the entire second half."

Though the game was scrappy at times, game officials never let it get out of hand, keeping the game under control throughout with three yellow cards divvied during the intense game.

In the first half, Parkview had multiple chances in the box, but were stopped either by Brookwood's defense or Brandon Schuster in goal, including a save on a Parkview free kick in the 15th minute.

The No. 3 Broncos (13-3, 7-0) looked to have their first real opportunity on goal when Trevor Mooney had an open net, but his shot was stopped by a Parkview defender to keep the game scoreless.

Finally, in the 47th minute, the Broncos got on the scoreboard when Adrian Alabi's shot deflected off a Parkview defender and into the net, putting the Broncos up 1-0.

"I told the guys that when they get around the box, they need to shoot," Klinect said. "Adrian had the goal open and took his shot. It deflected off a defender and went in."

From there, No.8 Parkview was in a rush to mount some offense in an effort to tie the game.

Their best chance came with five minutes to go in the game when Abel Nguyen took a free kick that deflected off Schuster, and just as he recovered to get the ball, he was barreled over by a Parkview (12-3-2, 7-1) forward sending him into the ground before the referee pulled out a yellow card.

After that, Brookwood continued to clear the ball, and got the ball back in the offensive zone late in the game, but Parkview's Diego Casillas stopped a shot on goal with 10 seconds left, keeping the score at 1-0.