Aberdeen Central took advantage of its opportunities while denying the Harrisburg Tigers from cashing in on theirs Tuesday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles gradually pulled away for a 3-0 Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ soccer win at Brownell Activities Complex.

“We were able to create some better quality chances,” said Central coach Lance Mohr. “We prevented them from creating really great chances.”

It turned out that the Golden Eagles really only needed one quality chance because their defense was on lock down mode.

Gus Bjerknes scored on a rebound in the 23rd minute to give Central the early advantage.

“The goalie got a hand on it and I was there to clean it up,” Bjerknes said.

The senior almost got another opening-half goal when his free kick nearly found the back of the net.

“I had that free kick that I was trying to play in,” Bjerknes said, “and it went off the cross bar.”

The Golden Eagles played into the wind in the opening half. While normally a disadvantage, Mohr said it can actually be easier than playing with the wind, especially on turf.

“We had some good spells when we got the ball down and connected, but it’s so hard when there’s a breeze and on turf to get the ball down and connect. It just is,” Mohr said. “The ball’s moving, it’s further than you think it is, and the turf is just so much more unforgiving than just a regular grass surface.”

Bjerknes said the Golden Eagles have a strategy they employ to keep the ball from getting caught up in the wind.

“We tried to keep the ball on the ground up until we got to the final third,” Bjerknes said, “and then we tried to scoop a ball over or play through a gate to find one of our wingers or one of our nines slipping through.”

Central pulled away in the second half when Linus Johnson got a penalty kick and buried it into the right corner of the goal in the 61st minute, and Emanuel Estrada Ferriol scored in the 70th minute off a feed from Bjerknes

“It was our seniors today who made the difference,” Mohr said. “Linus has the moment earning the PK, and then Gus has the moment playing the ball across to ‘Manny’ for the goal.”

Central’s defense, while tested, kept the Tigers off the scoreboard, spearheaded by defenseman Logan Heier.

“Logan had a great individual piece of defending on the block,” Mohr said. “We got in the way of a lot of stuff, so that’s what it’s going to be. Soccer is played with your feet for goodness sake, so it’s going to be a mess sometimes.”

Heier said that defense has been a point of emphasis in practice all season, trying to get new players adjusted to varsity positions.

“I feel like in practice, we’ve definitely been working since the beginning since we lost a lot of seniors last year,” Heier said. “We’ve definitely been focusing on the defensive part, because we know we have the same seniors as last year up front, and we know we’ve got some good kids up front too, so we’ve definitely been focusing on the back, and that effort is definitely working in games.”

Central goalkeeper Koltin Swearingen was up to task in net, turning back what shots did penetrate the Golden Eagles defense.

“It’s definitely easy to trust Koltin,” Heier said. “He’s a really good goalkeeper back there.”

The win was an important one, as Central looks to stay in the race for a possible third straight ESD championship. That fact is not lost on the players.

“These ESD games mean a whole lot,” Bjerknes said, “because that’s what we’re gunning for.”

The Golden Eagles, who have one conference setback already, would like to retain the ESD title.

“We definitely have to keep that mentality that we want to keep that ESD to us,” Heier said, “and don’t let any other team get it besides us.”

Of course, Central, now 6-1-1 on the season, also wants to keep heading into the right direction and it heads into the back half of the regular season.

“We’re looking to obviously win out from here, that’s the goal with any team,” Bjerknes said, “and heading into the playoffs we’d like to get the ball rolling really fast.”

The Golden Eagles head to Brookings on Thursday for another ESD contest.

Mohr said the key is to bring all out effort for the entire 80 minutes.

“We’ve got to be just focused on connecting, staying defensive,” Mohr said, “and if we bring that, I love our chances, it doesn’t matter if it’s here or somewhere else.”

Harrisburg 0 0 – 0

Aberdeen Central 1 2 – 3

First Half: 1, AC, Gus Bjerknes, 23rd minute.

Second Half: 2, AC, Linus Johnson (Penalty Kick), 61st minute; 3, AC, Emanuel Estrada Ferriol (Bjerknes), 70th minute.

Shots on Goal: Harrisburg 3; Aberdeen Central 8.

Goalie: Aberdeen Central, Koltin Swearingen (2 saves).