Mitchell got Aberdeen Central’s attention, and then received an onslaught of Golden Eagles goals during a windy Tuesday afternoon at Brownell Activities Complex.
The Kernels scored a goal less than two minutes into the contest before Central blitzed the Kernels goal on the way to a 6-1 Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ soccer win on Senior Day.
Central coach Lance Mohr went out to the field a couple of hours before the contest started and saw that the wind was coming in strong, “so you know one half is going to be just miserable, and they won the toss, so the first half was miserable and it started miserable.”
The Kernels executed a perfectly placed corner kick for their goal, but the hosts gradually took control.
“It was certainly a wake-up call. We gotta be ready when the game starts, no matter what, into the wind or without it,” said Central senior Lincoln Stone. “We have to be ready for it, and that’s something we have to look into fixing, but I think we handled ourselves pretty well attacking-wise, and we eventually got it figured out defensively.”
The Golden Eagles not only neutralized their time against the wind, they actually took advantage of it with a pair of goals from Linus Johnson for a 2-1 halftime advantage.
Once Central had the wind at its back, it tacked on four more goals in the final 40 minutes, another by Johnson, one by Bryson Burgard, and the final two goals from seniors Stone and Collin Hjermstad.
“These guys eventually figured it out. What we were doing to start was just trying to hang on and get used to the wind, and then all of the sudden we played a little bit better,” Mohr said, “started connecting a few passes and we just had to make it simple and hit it behind their back line, and that’s what we did. It didn’t look pretty, but it was effective.”
Johnson was the recipient of a pair of stellar assists, one from Gus Bjerknes and another from Tyler Bain as Central played unselfish soccer.
“That can be credited to, in practice we hold each other accountable to playing off each other and trusting each other,” Stone said, “and that’s really what showed today.”
Johnson has had a stellar junior season, scoring multiple goals in multiple games for the Golden Eagles.
“He’s always in the right spot, because he just works tirelessly. I don’t know if there’s a guy that likes scoring goals more than Linus, which is great,” Mohr said. “We do have to hear about it, but we enjoy it, we put up with it. He’s a great kid. … He works so hard for his team and that’s what happens. You get rewarded for that. Hats off to him.”
Central capped its home schedule of games unbeaten (it did draw with Watertown recently). The Golden Eagles also went undefeated against ESD competition on the way to winning their second straight league title.
“It’s surreal. We played really hard for this,” Stone said. “I think we earned it and the whole team’s excited about it.”
Stone is part of a special senior class that features a dozen players who have developed into a tight-knit unit.
“It’s amazing. Throughout these years here, we’ve all learned to play for each other and it shows in how we play,” Stone said. “We have a lot of trust in each other.”
Regardless of the score or position on the field, the Golden Eagles can always be found sprinting to nearly every ball, constantly putting pressure on opposing teams.
“They love to train. That’s half the battle. This is nothing new, their effort,” Mohr said. “It’s not like they come out here and they turn on some switch. This is how they train, every single day, every single week.”
Central, which will host an opponent to be determined next Tuesday in the opening round of the playoffs, will go in as one of the top seeds.
“We’re a high-ranked seed, but we can’t let that get into our heads. We gotta play every game like it’s our last,” Stone said. “For the majority of us it will be our last game if we let it get ahead of us. As long as we stay in front of that and play our version of soccer, I think we can do it.”
Mitchell 1 0 – 1
Aberdeen Central 2 4 – 6
First Half: 1, M, Adam Kampshoff (Sam Mullenmeister), 2nd minute; 2, AC, Linus Johnson (Gus Bjerknes), 18th minute; 3, AC, Johnson, 26th minute.
Second Half: 4, AC, Bryson Burgard, 49th minute; 5, AC, Collin Hjermstad, 63rd minute; 6, AC, Lincoln Stone, 66th minute.
Goalies: Mitchell, Jackson Deakins (8 saves); Aberdeen Central, Zander Kuhfeld (6 saves).
Shots on Goal: Mitchell 7; Aberdeen Central 14.
