Aberdeen Central struck early, weathered the storm in the middle, and pulled away late for a girls’ soccer win Tuesday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles scored four of their goals in either the first four minutes or the last four minutes in a 5-2 Eastern South Dakota Conference win over Watertown at Brownell Activities Complex.

“It’s one of those things, when you get those two quick goals, you kind of relax a little bit and it took us a while to get our motivation back and going forward again,” said Central coach Merle Aske. “But the girls did a good job of just hanging in, keep battling, keep finding a way.”

Espynn Kuhfeld got the Golden Eagles off to a soaring start with a pair of goals in the first four minutes of the contest. However, the Arrows eventually got their feet under them and scored late in the opening half to help turn the momentum.

“Espeically at halftime, Merle said we can’t slack,” said Central senior Lucy Fritz. “We got ahead two and then we kind of let off a little, but we can’t do that. So we just came back the second half and just pushed harder.”

The visitors tied the score five minutes into the second half and had several chances to take the lead, before Central regrouped and closed with a flurry.

“We say all the time, the worst score in soccer is to be 2-0, because one goal is half way and then another goal it’s tied and that team has all the momentum then,” Aske said. “But the girls did a good job of hanging in there, and battling and battling, and finding a way to get forward.”

Aske said the squad is much better when it has control of the ball as compared to when opponents are on the counter attack.

“When we we possess the ball going forward, we look really good, but when we give the ball up in transition, we have holes in the middle,” Aske said. “We have to figure out a way to plug those up a little bit.”

The Golden Eagles, who had a shot hit the cross bar in the opening half, caught a huge break to regain the lead when a shot fired by Addyson Salfrank snuck through the hands of the Watertown goalkeeper and trickled into the back of the net.

“We didn’t catch any breaks at all last year. We lost games 1-0 that we outshot (opponents) by 30 shots to 5,” Aske said. “Now it feels good to be back in a momentum where we’re doing the right things, and when you’re … doing things the right away, sometimes you catch a break here and there, and we caught one today. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

Central added two insurance goals down the stretch. Fritz, who assisted on the team’s second goal, was standing on the doorstep when Kaylee Donat fired a shot on goal. The ball came out to Fritz on the rebound and she promptly deposited it in the back of the net.

“Kaylee Donat had a great ball in and the goalie just kind of bounced it off,” Fritz said, “so you always kind of have to be ready for that to happen.”

Brianna Fischer added the final goal with five seconds remaining.

The win was a big one for the Golden Eagles who are fighting for a chance to host a first-round home playoff game.

“We definitely had to win this one,” Fritz said. “We’ve been tying and losing to lower seeds. Since Watertown’s lower than us, we had to win this for home playoff for sure.”

The Golden Eagles cap off the regular season with game at Yankton on Saturday, and a home contest against Mitchell on Tuesday.

Aske believes the team has a realistic shot at finishing in the top eight, guaranteeing a home playoff game.

“I think we’ll top end up in the eight,” Aske said. “I’m hoping we can maybe get to seven, but for sure we’ve got to win two of these last three games.”

Watertown 1 1 – 2

Aberdeen Central 2 3 – 5

First Half: 1, AC, Espynn Kuhfeld (Addyson Salfrank, 2nd minute; 2, AC, Kuhfeld (Lucy Fritz), 4th minute; 3, W, Mylee Kannas, 30th minute.

Second Half: 4, W, Sophia Gallardo Pophan, 45th minute; 5, AC, Salfrank; 67th minute; 6, AC, Fritz (Kaylee Donat), 77th minute; 7, AC, Brianna Fischer (Salfrank), 80th minute.

Goalies: Watertown, Madison Enstad (10 saves); Aberdeen Central, Ava Beck (12 saves).

Shots: Watertown 25 shots, 14 on goal; Aberdeen Central 27 shots, 15 on goal.