Groton opened its boys’ soccer season with a 2-2 draw against Hot Springs Friday evening at the Northern State Pavilion.
The visiting Bison scored on a penalty kick in the final minute to score the equalizing goal.
“We just got the rust off a little bit,” said Groton junior Easton Weber. “We felt like we played pretty good, but we’ll be ready for the next game.”
Groton got on the board first after a Hot Springs player tried to make a save and knocked the ball into his own goal just over two minutes into the game. Groton’s Ryder Schwan was credited with the goal.
With just under 28 minutes left in the first half, Hot Springs tied the game with a goal from sophomore Jeremiah Melton.
Later in the half, the Bison nearly scored another goal, but it was disallowed because of a penalty, leaving the score tied 1-1 at the half.
Coming out of the break, it was Groton again getting on the board first with a goal from Weber.
“It was a big adrenaline rush,” Weber said. “Just wanting to win so bad, and just keep going and keep fighting.”
Weber’s goal came with less than 24 minutes remaining in the contest and the Bison didn’t get many quality shots until 10 minutes were left in the game.
Hot Springs put multiple solid shots on goal that Groton defended to keep the Bison off the board.
“Defense wins us games,” said Groton coach Ryan Olson. “I feel our defense is very strong. We have Connor (Kroll) and JJ (Muller) and they’re very strong players, and they definitely help. We have Donavan (Block) back this year, and we have an eighth-grader helping out as well. We sub in and out on the defensive side of things. But if we don’t have our defense, then it would’ve been a lot worse a game than what it showed.”
After all the defensive stops by Groton, the Bison lined up a penalty kick with less than a minute remaining and Keagan Braucher drilled it to tie the game and eventually get a draw.
“It hangs with you; we felt like we had that one,” Weber said. “We just gave it away last minute. It’s kind of heartbreaking. We really wanted to win that one.”
TC Schuster had eight saves for Groton. Logan Olson and Schwan each had an assist.
Despite giving up the late goal, Weber was proud of the defensive effort.
“It was really good for our offense; we know that our defense can make those stops,” Weber said. “We can go on our runs when we need to get on goal.”
Coach Olson said the Tigers just need to keep their heads in the game.
“We just have to play our game,” Olson said. “We can’t play their game. They’re pretty physical and we kept saying stuff during the game; we just have to keep our mouths closed and just play how we should be.”
Olson pointed out a few things he wants his team to focus on for the upcoming season.
“We still have to stay strong on defense,” Olson said. “Our offense needs to find different ways to get the ball in the goal. … We have to make sure that we’re looking at our surroundings. And if there’s nobody around us, then we just need to make sure we’re carrying the ball with us, then looking for the open pass. We have to open up more so we can be ready for the goals.”
Groton will now look ahead to next Saturday when the Tigers hit the road to face Belle Fouche.
