BLOOMFIELD HILLS >> The host Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood Cranes and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Eaglets played to a 1-1 draw Saturday evening.

After 74 minutes of scoreless soccer, the teams traded goals in the final six minutes. The Cranes had looked the more likely team to score for much of the game, and it was Cranbrook who struck first. Belen Torres raced down the right side and fired a cross toward the penalty spot. That’s where her sister, Paloma, was trailing the play and found a rare bit of open space to step into the cross, rifling a shot home to make it 1-0 in favor of the hosts with 5:54 to play.

St. Mary’s needed just 2:17 to even the score. Freshman Sophie Carmosimo found space on the left wing and blasted a ball from 30 yards out that the goalkeeper could only get a piece of as the shot powered its way over the goal line to tie the game.

That was just about all the offense in the game. Cranbrook had more possession and created a few more opportunities, but outside of a couple of near misses by the Cranes late in the first half, prime scoring chances were hard to come by.

Instead, the game was largely dominated by the defenses, who took advantage of the small field to close down opposing attackers and limit any space for ballhandling. As a result, the game moved up and down the field with very few shots to be had by either team as Cranbrook finished with a slight 5-3 edge in attempts on frame.

“Finding space is difficult in this game, but it’s the key to success. So we’ve got to find ways to do that. But overall, I’m proud of us and proud of our attack,” Cranes head coach David Brown said. “Especially in the second half, I thought we really perked up nicely, and that’s due to their conditioning and the work this team has been putting in in practice, so I’m proud of them for that.”

Overall, it was the Cranbrook defense led by the trio of Kendall Pankopf, Sophia Baldwin, and Abbie Assemany that shut things down for the Cranes. At the other end, the St. Mary’s backline anchored by Olivia Rust did likewise for the Eaglets, limiting what the opposition could do in terms of generating consistent scoring threats.

“I’m very proud of the backline, proud of Kira (Howcroft) in net. We just need to create a little bit more, be a little bit more creative in the offensive third. I thought we moved the ball well.

“We connected from the defense to the midfield, but again, we’ve got to get a little bit more out of our play in the offensive third to crate more shots,” Eaglets head coach Keith Jeffery said.

Both teams now step back into league play as the regular season quickly winds down. Cranbrook (1-6-2 overall) hosts Farmington Hills Mercy on Tuesday in a CHSL Central contest.

“I like what we’re doing. I like the trends, and if we keep moving in a positive direction, I think we’re going to have a good season,” Brown said.

St. Mary’s (5-3-2) has three league games in the coming week, starting with a road trip to Bishop Foley.

“I thought our girls played very well,” Jeffery said. “The field is small, but we had to play smart because we’re coming off of back-to-back games. Overall, I’m happy with walking away with a draw.”