For nearly 70 minutes, it looked like an unsolvable puzzle, and then Aberdeen Central began putting the pieces together.

The Golden Eagles erased a two-goal deficit in the final 11 minutes to secure a 2-2 non-conference boys’ soccer draw with Sioux Falls Roosevelt at Brownell Activities Complex.

“We were in trouble, because we couldn’t quite figure out the puzzle,” said Central coach Lance Mohr. “We were kind of like trying to put pieces together, but we didn’t have the right ones, so we tried changing and changing, and moving and changing, and literally it took us getting down to 10 men to create this level of urgency, and then all of a sudden we moved the pieces around and it was just like lightning.”

Central played shorthanded after getting a red card, but it seemed to light a fire for the Golden Eagles.

Tyler Bain took a feed from Linus Johnson to cut the deficit in half, before Bain placed a spot-on pass on a corner kick to Bryson Burgard for the game-tying goal with just over four minutes remaining.

“It was a right place at the right time kind of goal,” Burgard said.

He noted he didn’t spot the ball right away.

“It was a perfect pass,” Burgard said. “I couldn’t see it at first. The Roosevelt guy was in the way, and then I saw it and it just hit my chest and went in.”

It was the first varsity goal for the sophomore.

“It was amazing,” Burgard said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

The Golden Eagles almost won the game in the closing seconds, but were denied by a solid save from the Roosevelt goalie.

It was the second straight tie for Central, which also finished in a draw with Brandon Valley last weekend.

“The one on Saturday just felt like we were never at our best,” Mohr said. “We never got going, and then all of sudden tonight we finally got going. We just needed to move the pieces and figure out what works for this team.”

The feeling after each contest was probably much different as well.

“It’s absolutely great,” Mohr said of the latest tie. “It’s absolutely not what we want, but it’s absolutely great at the same time.”

Burgard said the season is a work in progress for the Golden Eagles with the best still out there.

“We’re a young team. We still have a lot of potential,” Burgard said. “We’re not even close to how good we can be. We’re going to see just where the season takes us.”

The Golden Eagles host Tea Area next Tuesday and Sioux Falls Lincoln two days after that.

Central has yet to lose at home this season and it took a big effort to keep that streak in tact against Roosevelt.

“I knew we had chance the way these guys bounce back from adversity. …. They worked so hard tonight to get back in that game,” Mohr said, “so I’m really proud of them.”

Sioux Falls Roosevelt 1 1 – 2

Aberdeen Central 0 2 – 2

First half: 1, SFR, Rony Funez Gamez, 29th minute.

Second half: 2, SFR, Elton Gbor, 63rd minute; 3, AC, Tyler Bain (Linus Johnson), 69th minute; 4, AC, Bryson Burgard (Bain), 76th minute.

Shots on Goal: Sioux Falls Roosevelt 5; Aberdeen Central 9.

Goalies: Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Justice Anderson (7 saves); Aberdeen Central, Zander Kuhfeld (4 saves).