On a night where Aberdeen Central had to wait awhile to finish its girls’ soccer contest, it was somehow fitting that the outcome was in doubt until one final play at Brownell Activities Complex Friday evening.

The Golden Eagles waited out more than an hour-long lightning delay, scored the game-winning goal with seven minutes left, and then came up with multiple saves in the final minute for a 2-1 non-conference victory over Rapid City Central.

The game was tied 1-1 with 27:51 remaining when lightning was spotted in the area. A second lighting strike then lengthened the delay.

“When the game gets interrupted like that, you sit around for an hour and 10 minutes or whatever it was, and then have to come back out, but the girls did a good job of mentally getting focused right away,” said Central coach Merle Aske, “right when we got back out here, got the ball moving around. We got back into the game right away.”

The Golden Eagles eventually produced the game winner when Addyson Salfrank took a feed from Bri Fischer and put the ball in the back of the net.

“I was a little scared it wasn’t going to go in, but my teammates just always know how to set me up,” Salfrank said. “They are really good at moving the ball to the midfield. Espynn (Kuhfeld) and Bri work really well together and they work really well with me. I’m really proud of them for their hard work, too because it’s not just a single-person game. It’s a team game and they set me up perfectly. It was just one lucky hit.”

In fact, Salfrank did not think the shot had a chance to go in.

“I thought that was going way wide,” Salfrank said, “but it curved and I was like, oh, that’s going in.”

Aske said there wasn’t a high probability of that shot finding the back of the net, but it did.

“The game-wininng goal, it’s a great goal, but that’s not a high-percentage shot. She was way off balance,” Aske said. “That’s where you want to shoot the ball from, but not when you’re that off balance and moving that quickly.”

Aske said he figures that Golden Eagles were due after some things have gone against his squad in recent years.

“We haven’t had a lot of breaks in the last year and half,” Aske said, “so it’s nice to get a break like that.”

The game was far from over, however.

The Cobblers played with a sense of urgency and peppered the Golden Eagles goal in the closing minutes. Aberdeen goalie Ava Beck was up to the challenge, though, stoppling multiple shots, including one final save as the remaining seconds ticked off the clock with the ball ending up in her hands.

“At the end we were up by one, but the ball stayed mainly by our net, so we were kind of all hectic in trying to get it out,” Beck said. “It was just really stressful, because everyone was just yelling, trying to get the ball out.”

Beck said she tries to keep her mind clear under intense situations like that.

“I really just try to focus and I try not think that much,” the junior said. “A lot of times I’m just telling myself that this is the end, this is the most important.”

Beck said she can feel the pressure of being in goal during tight games.

“I would take a tie over a loss,” Beck said. “I don’t want that pressure to be on me if we lose.”

Fischer scored early in the game to give the Golden Eagles the lead and then it was a battle after that.

“The girls played hard. They played well enough to win,” Aske said. “We held pressure on them most of the game, but they had their opportunities, too.”

Central will be right back in action this morning, hosting Rapid City Stevens at 10 a.m.

Aske noted that it is almost midseason for the Golden Eagles.

“Now, it’s just a matter of getting in the flow of things and getting our movement down,” Aske said.

Rapid City Central 0 1 – 1

Aberdeen Central 1 1 – 2

First Half: 1, AC, Brianna Fischer (Kaylee Donat), 5th minute.

Second Half: 2, RCC, Rylee Healy, 41st; 3, AC, Addyson Salfrank (Brianna Fischer and Epynn Kuhfeld), 73rd.

Goalies: Rapid City Central, Joanna Williams (8 saves); Aberdeen Central, Ava Beck (9 saves).

Shots: Rapid City Central, 21 shots, 10 on goal; Aberdeen Central, 24 shots, 10 on goal.