Aberdeen Central missed some scoring chances in the opening half, but the Golden Eagles didn’t miss them in the second half.

Fourth-rated Central scored three second-half goals, two on penalty kicks, to turn back Harrisburg in a 3-0 Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ soccer victory at Brownell Activities Complex Tuesday afternoon.

“We created a couple of really, really nice opportunities in the first half, but didn’t finish them. Our finishing wasn’t spectacular today,” said Central coach Lance Mohr. “We got a couple fouls in the box, which is fortunate. Once again, you don’t know when they’re going to come, but you never say no to a penalty kick.”

And Mohr said you never say no to a goal at any time from any place.

“We never take for granted scoring a goal, any way it comes,” he said. “It’s so hard to score, so you never, never take it for granted, because it’s tough to get goals in soccer in general.”

Tyler Bain broke a scoreless tie with a penalty kick, the first of his varsity career.

“One of our players got fouled in the box and we got a penalty kick,” Bain said. “I just stepped up to take it with confidence and I just put it in.”

The junior said scoring on penalty kicks is not as easy as it appears.

“They’re a big mind game,” Bain said. ” You have to know where you’re going to put the ball before you even get up there, because if you second-guess yourself, you’re probably going to mess it up.”

Derek Arunasalam scored Central’s second goal on a penalty kick about 10 minutes after Bain’s goal, and then Derek Holland produced the final goal for the Golden Eagles in the 75th minute.

“It was good for the people that scored today to see it hit the back of the net,” Mohr said.

The second half proved to be a complete contrast to the opening 40 minutes.

“First half we got a little frustrated,” Bain said. “We weren’t playing to our full potential, and then second half we had a team talk and we just really got after it, and we played the way that we should be playing.”

As they have so far on the young season, the Golden Eagles limited an opponent’s chances to score.

Mohr said the defensemen have played well, and have gotten an assist from others on the team.

“They’re doing a good job of winning the ball early. It starts with our midfield. They’re doing a good job winning it before it gets to them,” Mohr said. “Once it gets to them, we’re making it as predictable as possible and they’re doing a great job of dealing with the flight itself and some of the junk that comes through, so I’m really, really pleased with how they’re doing and how they’re coming along.”

The victory was a big one for the Eagles because it was at home against a conference foe.

“This is a really important win,” Bain said, “because it’s an ESD win which is a really big goal for us winning ESD, and it’s always great to win at home.”

Central, 3-0-1 on the season, heads west where it plays at Rapid City Central on Friday and at Rapid City Stevens on Saturday.

“We’ll try to get a couple of positive results this weekend,” Mohr said. “That’s our goal.”