Early in the MCAL season, The Branson School boys soccer team dropped some crucial points by conceding late goals in a tie against Redwood and a loss against Archie Williams.

The Bulls were presented with a similar challenge on Monday in trying to see out the game with a one-goal lead late against Marin Catholic.

This time around, not only did Branson not concede late, the Bulls got a goal from Shiloh Williams in the 75th minute to put the game away and secure all three points.

“We played Redwood and Archie early on,” Branson’s Rodrigo Diaz said. “We were leading the game in both of those series and obviously it slipped away toward the end of the second half. As time went on, it was a little easier to catch our strategies and be able to close games out and that’s what definitely helped us.”

The result lifted Branson (5-5-4, 2-2-1 MCAL) at least temporarily into third place on 10 points, after both the Bulls and MC (6-5-5, 1-1-4) entered the game tied for fourth place on seven points.

“We all knew the way it was lining up and, you know, Marin Catholic hadn’t lost — four ties, one win — so we knew they hadn’t lost,” Branson coach Tom Ryan said. “It ends up being a big game for a couple of different reasons, right? One, it’s a [North Coast Section] D-IV opponent and then also we’re tied in league so it ends up being doubly important for us. Add senior day to the mix and it made for a pretty intense game.”

Williams helped Branson put the game away after receiving a pass from Jonah Sher, who registered his second assist of the game on the play. Williams received the ball around the left corner of the 18-yard box and managed to wriggle his way past a couple of defenders before tucking a shot inside the far post.

“Shiloh kind of has the juice that out of nothing, he can make something happen,” Ryan said. “The ball finds him, he makes a couple moves and he hits this [shot] from the left side of the box into the far right corner of the goal. … It found its way in and it gave us a little breathing room because they were all over us.”

Branson built a 2-0 lead by scoring goals on either side of halftime. The first goal came in the 37th minute off a long throw-in by Sher — who proved all the more dangerous on the small pitch at Branson.

Sher heaved the ball deep into the 18-yard box where Cooper Little flicked it on toward the back post where Diaz was making a run. Little’s flick was perhaps a bit too accurate, as it went into the far corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Diaz made another back-post run in the 41st minute and got on the end of a cross from Drew Holden to double Branson’s advantage.

“I waited for Drew to be onside, played him a ball and he went down the line, came in, and I just made the sprint inside the box and put in the header,” Diaz said.

MC had been held relatively in check offensively during the first half but pushed hard for a goal in the second half, finally getting one in the 65th minute when Enrique Guzman got behind Branson’s back line and slotted the ball home to make it 2-1.

“We obviously had a game plan to try and slow Enrique down and we did a good job for 60, 65 mins when he broke in,” Ryan said. “That’s exactly what we had talked about defending and yet he’s got that kind of giddyup and all of a sudden he’s gone.”

MC kept pushing for an equalizer and created a few late chances but, once Williams restored Branson’s two-goal advantage with 5 minutes to play, there was no way back.

“The whole team is really hungry after last year, finishing third and losing in the first round of the playoffs,” Branson’s Bode Dossey said. “This is one of those must wins against teams that are in the middle of the table with us. I’m pretty sure this puts us in a place where we are highly likely to make the playoffs.”

Branson sits a point behind Redwood for second place and sits a point ahead of idle Terra Linda in fourth. The Trojans (9 points) and Red-tailed Hawks (7) both have a game in hand.

MC sits in the sixth and final playoff spot with two games remaining on its schedule. San Marin and San Rafael sit three points back but crucially with a game in hand.

Around the county

• Sean Chamberlin continued his torrid scoring pace with a hat trick as Archie Williams rolled to a 5-0 win against Novato on Monday. Jackson Richardson and Chala Rosenthal also scored for the Peregrine Falcons (7-3-3, 4-0-1), who sit in first place on 13 points with a game in hand over their two closest competitors. Manny Cardenas, Jake Morrison, and Richardson had assists against the Hornets (0-7-1, 0-4-1).

• Second-place Redwood (5-2-4, 3-1-2) kept pace with Archie Williams by securing a 2-0 victory against San Marin (5-3-3, 1-3-1) on Monday.

• Noah Pederson scored off an assist by Nate Wanger in the 75th minute as Tam (6-4-4, 2-2-1) moved into fifth place following a 1-0 win against San Rafael (4-8-3, 1-3-1) on Monday.

Girls soccer

Josie Quinby and Rashell Diaz enjoyed huge games as Terra Linda rolled to a 7-1 win against Lincoln on Monday. Quinby netted a hat trick and had two assists for TL (7-4-3) while Diaz scored twice with three assists. The Trojans also got goals by Remi David and Sienna Economou and got assists from Allie Marovich and Shea Reyes.