The regular-season goals have been accomplished and now the Aberdeen Central boys’ soccer team is ready for the postseason.
The Golden Eagles started out the year wanting to win another Eastern South Dakota Conference championship and be unbeaten at home. Those two goals have been met, and now there’s this matter of a possible state championship.
That quest begins on Tuesday when Central hosts Brookings in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs at 6 p.m. at Brownell Activities Complex.
“We’re more than ecstatic that we did (accomplish those goals),” said Central coach Lance Mohr, “but at the same time, I told them (last) Thursday that everything that they have accomplished, you can forget it, because it won’t help you perform any better.”
Central hosts a Brookings team that possesses one of the fastest players in the state in Forrest Giard.
“Obviously, he caused us some trouble the first time,” Mohr said. “The wind that day did not help.”
Mohr said the Golden Eagles will not back down from a challenge, and fully understand the situation.
“They expect it and if you can’t deal with it then you don’t deserve to move on. That’s kind of our mentality,” Mohr said. “When it comes to challenges, we prepare them, they understand what the challenge is, and ultimately they have to go out and execute the game plan.”
Mohr understands that Brookings is a dangerous foe in the postseason, but hopes his team sets the tone early in the contest
“We’re going to game plan around that,” Mohr said, “and hopefully we can get rolling early and sort of take some of the air out of the game.”
Central, which features a dozen seniors on this year’s squad, advanced to the semifinals last season where it eventually fell to Sioux Falls Lincoln. The Golden Eagles remember that contest very well, and will look to take the next step this fall.
The Golden Eagles, 11-2-1, were tested late in the regular season and more than held their own, losing just one time and tying another, while winning some key contests on the road.
“That’s a testament to having as many seniors as we do,” Mohr said.
Central goes into the postseason as the third-seed, meaning if the Golden Eagles win on Tuesday, they will host a quarterfinal game on Saturday.
Mohr, who has played and coached in the postseason before, knows what it will take for his team to have a chance to make a deep run in the playoffs.
“Ultimately it comes down to your best players have to be playing near or at their best,” Mohr said, combined with an effort “solely on executing the game plan for 80 minutes. If you have those two things you’re really, really, really hard to beat.”
