Aberdeen Central overcame a slow start, responded to adversity, but couldn’t quite get the extra goal it wanted at Brownell Activities Complex.

The Golden Eagles battled to a 1-1 draw with Sioux Falls Jefferson in boys’ soccer action on Tuesday afternoon.

While Central did not lose, it definitely left some chances on the pitch, after more than doubling the shots on goal of the Cavaliers.

“Wasteful is a kind way to put it,” said Central coach Lance Mohr of the missed opportunities.

Like they did in their season opener, the Eagles got off to slow start to begin the contest.

“It’s a game of soccer. There’s chances both ways and it is what it is,” said Central coach Lance Mohr, “but I thought our inability in the first 20-25 minutes to really handle the press and be able to get out with that, was 25 minutes that I looked at we kind of wasted.”

It appeared that neither team would find the back of the net as the game was scoreless heading into the 60th minute.

Jefferson eventually connected for a goal, but Central responded quickly with the equalizer about five minutes later in the 65th minute when Gavin Yost made a nifty move to split a pair of defenders before placing the ball in the goal.

When asked how he is able to dribble the ball like that to be able to escape two defensemen, Yost responded, “It’s just practicing constantly, just kicking the ball around. Really had to fight for that one. Didn’t want to have a loss at home, so just doing pretty much whatever I can to get that ball in net.”

He said being able to handle the ball comes naturally.

“Just finding spaces,” he said. “I’ve been doing it since I was 5.”

So does he practice that footwork at home as well?

“Every day, all day,” Yost said, “Mom gets annoyed.”

Yost was helped on the play when the Jefferson goalie and his teammate ran into each other.

“It was pretty crazy,” Yost said of the play. “I just had to get out of there. I didn’t want to smack into them, too.”

Mohr was happy to see that game-tying goal on the sequence from Yost.

“That was a huge goal. It was fantastic dribbling, but the combination play to get in was good. Some Nice 1-2s, and ultimately tied the game for us,” Mohr said. “I wish we could have done that one more time today.”

The early-season home scoring was something that Central struggled with a year ago, so at least the Golden Eagles took care of that in their home opener and allowed their fans to hear the school song.

“We did not want to make the people wait, so I’m glad we got on the board,” Mohr said. “We’ve got to continue to score some more goals. We’ve only actually scored one in each game so far. We’ve got to quit wasting these chances. We had enough today to score more than we did.”

In the end, there were some positives and things to work on as one might expect when a game ends in a draw.

“We started slow, and it’s all about our reaction. I thought our reaction when we got scored on was really positive. That sometimes takes some character,” Mohr said. “It’s challenging for teams, but to come back and tie, not all is lost, but we’ve definitely got to get better.”

Central plays at Brookings on Saturday.

Sioux Falls Jefferson 0 1 – 1

Aberdeen Central 0 1 – 1

First Half: no scoring.

Second Half: 1, SFJ, Caleb Brink, 60th minute; 2, AC, Gavin Yost, 65th minute.

Goalies: Sioux Falls Jefferson, Mattson Wear; Aberdeen Central, Zander Kuhfeld.