The match was closer than the final score would indicate, but the result was the same.

Tolleson scored once early and twice late to take a 3-0 road victory over Phoenix Trevor Browne Friday in a Division I boys soccer match.

The win was important for Tolleson (8-2-1) as it moves it one step closer to a playoff berth. The team was ranked No.11 in the AIA/MaxPreps power rankings entering the match.

The loss is just as noteworthy for Trevor Browne (10-1-1) as the fifth-ranked team suffered its first setback of the season.

“They were an undefeated team, so we knew what it was going to take,” Tolleson coach Benjamin Andronic said.

“I told them at halftime, ‘Don’t take your foot off the gas,'” he said. “We got the 1-0 lead, and we kept pushing.”

An early goal by junior forward Adam Adoyi held up for the duration of the match as Trevor Browne struggled to create chances in the Tolleson zone.

In fact, it was Tolleson that appeared to be the more aggressive and opportunistic team, taking advantage of a late Trevor Browne miscue that opened up the lead.

With just under six minutes remaining, the Trevor Browne goalkeeper’s clearing attempt went straight to the foot of Tolleson senior forward Jeremy Steiner. Steiner then deked the keeper and put the ball into the empty net to make it 2-0.

Adoyi added a second goal less than two minutes later for the final margin.

“They did not wear down,” Trevor Browne coach Jeffrey Scofield said. “This is their fourth game in five days, and they looked as fresh in the 80th minute as they did in the first minute. So all credit to them.”

Trevor Browne will have a chance for redemption, as the two teams meet again Jan.24 at Tolleson in the last game of the regular season, a fact not lost on Scofield.

“That’s what we talked about in the postgame huddle,” he said. “This was not our best game, so we’re going to regroup and go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan, and try to get them the next time.”