Jaxi Lozenski scored two goals, assisted on another, and Aberdeen Central opened the girls’ soccer playoffs with a win over Tea Area on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles were dominant in a 3-0 victory at Brownell Activities Complex after edging the Titans by just one goal during a regular-season matchup.

“I feel like tonight we came out with more energy and were more prepared for the game,” Lozenski said.

Central coach Kendra Hanley said the Golden Eagles did not play poorly in the first encounter with Tea Area, but found ways to finish in the rematch.

“The first time we played them, I thought we played very well, it’s just our shots weren’t falling. Period,” Hanley said. “Tonight we just kept at it.”

Lozenski started the scoring on a penalty kick in the eighth minute. The sophomore said she pays close attention to the goalkeeper before placing her shot.

“I just look at the goalie, see what side they’re more on,” Lozenski said, “and if they’re more on one side, then I aim for the other side.”

Lozenski added another goal in the second half, and assisted on a goal by Keyana Stillman. It turned out that one goal was all Central would need as the Golden Eagles allowed just one shot on goal throughout the entire contest.

Hanley noted that the team made a few adjustments heading into the game.

“Our backline and those clearances, they saved us from a lot of threatful attacks,” Hanley said.

Senior defender Paige Ewalt said those changes helped to keep the ball away from the Central goal.

“A lot of the change was coming from the back line. We working on clearing the ball a lot and just making sure we can get it back down that line, kind of kick it up in the air and find a way out,” Ewalt said. “I think we really picked it up on getting it back out and down the field. You could see it tonight. It was evident.”

That defensive adjustment kept the ball from getting anywhere near Central goalkeeper Ava Beck nearly the entire game.

“We work together really hard just to keep that. We don’t want Ava to touch that ball, unless she has to,” Ewalt said. “I think it really proved that we have a strong back line, we have a strong midfield, we have a strong offense.”

As a result, Central moved on to the quarterfinals of the playoffs where it will host O’Gorman at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Brownell Activities Complex. It will allow the Golden Eagles a chance to avenge a loss to OG last Thursday.

“We like that. It gives us that motivation going forward, because we didn’t like that outcome of that game,” Hanley said. “It gives us a chance to have somewhat of a redemption.”

Lozenski talked about what it will take to have a different result in the rematch.

“Physicality, winning 50-50 balls, and just not letting them win every through ball in the air,” Lozenski said, “because that’s kind of what happened last time.”

Hanley said the Golden Eagles will need to play better this time around against the Knights.

“O’Gorman is a great team and they’re competitive, so we have to step up,” Hanley said. “The way we played against them, we need to step it up a notch, and play to what our potential is and what we can play to.”

Tea Area 0 0 – 0

Aberdeen Central 1 2 – 3

First Half: 1, AC, Jaxi Lozenski (penalty kick), 8th minute.

Second Half: 2, AC, Lozenski (Kenley Stucke), 41st minute; 3, AC, Keyana Stillman (Lozenski), 57th minute.

Shots: Tea Area 4; Aberdeen Central 15.

Goalies: Tea Area, Brookelyn Youngstrom (3 saves); Aberdeen Central, Ava Beck (2 saves).