Aberdeen Central received goals from five different players on the way to a 6-1 victory over Douglas-Rapid City Christian-New Underwood in boys’ soccer action Saturday afternoon at Brownell Activities Complex.
“I think that may be a hallmark for us this year. It’s something that we can kind of hang our hat on. We’ve got goals that can come from different places,” said Central coach Lance Mohr. “We have a lot of guys that are comfortable with that side and I think once we fine-tune the back and build them to get a little more high-quality chances, I think we’ll be in really, really good shape going forward.”
Gabe Johnson, Tyler Bain and Sekou Gogue each scored within the first nine minutes of the contest, and Tyson Hassebroek added a goal later in the half.
Many of the players have grown accustomed to playing with each other, so the squad has solid chemistry.
“We work the ball around really well,” Bain said. “We connect to the feet and then we find a way through, and then we put it in the net.”
The Eagles took control early in the contest with those three early goals, but could not keep up that torrid pace. Johnson and Pablo Belaunde Ledezma added goals in the final stages of the second half.
“We started off in a pretty good rhythm and tempo. Then we started rotating a little bit and the new pieces, we kind of struggled to get that rhythm back,” Mohr said. “In the second half we decided to just let them go a little bit longer and making the changes a little bit slighter. It allowed us to keep in a tempo, something we could replicate a little bit. It was just too many new pictures in the first half, too many unfamiliar faces playing together. We’re still working through some of that stuff.”
Central became more patient in the final 40 minutes, already owning a three-goal lead. The Eagles were content to work the ball around for high-percentage shots.
“We were already ahead and we didn’t need to do anything too aggressive so we didn’t get countered,” Bain said.
Not that the team didn’t have chances. The Eagles lived in front of the Patriots’ goal for the majority of the game, but were often turned away by solid goal tending or shots that were just off the mark.
“We definitely should have been more efficient around goal, but soccer, it’s a hard game to score,” Mohr said. “It doesn’t matter, sometimes you need 31 (shots) and sometimes you need one. You never really know. I never put too much stock into that. As long as we’re creating the chances, we have the players and they’ll go eventually.”
Central will host Sioux Falls Jefferson at 4 p.m. Tuesday. It will be the third game in five days to start the season.
“I think it’s a good thing, because we get a lot of experience,” Bain said of the demanding early-season schedule. “We have a lot of games in a short amount of time, so we can really work on getting better.”
Mohr knows that Jefferson will present a serious challenge for the Eagles, but it is one that the coach is looking forward to.
“We know that they’re going to be a talented squad,” Mohr said, “and I’m really excited for us to play against that type of challenge again.”
Douglas-RC Christian-New Underwood 1 0 – 1
Aberdeen Central 4 2 – 6
First Half
1, AC, Gabe Johnson (Tyson Hassebroek), 7th minute; 2, AC, Tyler Bain, 8th minute; 3, AC, Sekou Gogue (Johnson), 9th minute; 4, AC, Hassebroek, 27th minute; 5, DRCNU, Michael Roundtree, 30th minute.
Second Half
6, AC, Johnson (Gogue), 65th minute; 7, AC, Pablo Belaunde Ledezma (Derek Arunasalam), 73rd.
Shots on Goal: Douglas-Rapid City Christian-New Underwood 1; Aberdeen Central 14.Goalies: Douglas-Rapid City Christian-New Underwood, Ayden Haynes (8 saves); Aberdeen Central, Camden Fauth (1 save).
