BROOKINGS – Both Brookings soccer teams were shutout on Tuesday night against Sioux Falls Lincoln. The Patriots boys and girls were both ranked second in Class AA and the boys won 2-0 and the girls won 3-0.

Boys

• SF Lincoln 2, Brookings 0

The Bobcats outshot the Patriots 9-3, but Lincoln was able to put two of those three shots in the net. Brookings head coach Steve Binkley said he thought his team played well against the second ranked team, but he felt as though they didn’t do as enough with the chances they were given.

“We had more chances than them, we outshot them, but I don’t know if in our final third if we were as dangerous as we could have been at times. Because [Sioux Falls Lincoln] didn’t allow us to get a lot of looks, but the one’s that we had, I think we just needed to do a little bit more with. They kind of got gifted a goal as well. But otherwise, I feel like 99% of the game was good on the defensive end. There was maybe a little bit to clean up, but overall on offense and defense, I thought we were really great against an opponent that’s top-three in the state,” Binkley said.

The Patriots got the scoring midway through the first half. Simon Woods worked his way around the defense and put one into the back of the net to make it 1-0 in the 19th minute.

Around the midway point of the second half, Lincoln was able to net its second goal of the game. A patriot player broke free and Brookings goalie Nithin Patel came out of the box to play the ball, the player deked out Patel and easily put it into the net to make it 2-0. The Patriots were able to close things down the rest of the way.

Binkley said he thought his team competed well enough that he thinks they would have a good shot if the Bobcats were to play the Patriots again in the playoffs.

“I think if [this game] was in a playoff setting, it’s a team that we would love to get a rematch with and I think they would be really nervous to play us. I thought we had more possession and the better chances. If we do a little bit of cleaning up, that’s a game that we can draw or win if we had it back,” Binkley said.

Brookings had two shots on goal for the game. Drew Ton had one shot on goal and James Park had the other. Junior Eberline had two shots. Brayden Schriber, Jordan Mofle, Isaiah Vogt and Kole Kalber all had one shot.

Brookings is now 3-5-1 and sits in 10th place in the Class AA standings. The Bobcats have four games left against Pierre, Harrisburg, Mitchell and Sioux Falls Lincoln. Binkley said if his team wins all four games they’ll be in the top-eight and get a home playoff game. Pierre is the only one of the final four opponents that has a winning record and Binkley said winning all of the final four games is very possible.

“Pierre is maybe the toughest team on paper that we have left. Four wins for us [in the final four games] is very doable. That’s the first thing we said in the huddle right after game. I said ‘OK, now it starts. Let’s go get our four wins.’ If we play like this the rest of the way through, I think that’s incredibly possible. We made some changes and put captain James Park in the back on defense and I think that really gave our team more patience and confidence possessing and moving the ball forward. So, we might try to continuing to do that moving forward and try to get some wins,” Binkley said.

Brookings plays at Pierre on Thursday at 3 p.m.

Girls

• SF Lincoln 3, Brookings 0

Unlike the boys, the Bobcat girls were outshot 13-5 on Tuesday. Lincoln scored early as Maii Van Meeteren put one in in the sixth minute. The Bobcats would hold the Patriots scoreless the rest of the first half, but gave two goals in the 62nd minute. Van Meeteren scored the first one off of a free kick and then Mariah Siem netted the other to make it 3-0.

Despite the 3-0 loss, Brookings head coach Adam Juba liked the way his team played.

“After the first five minutes I knew it was going to be a close game and I was hoping that it was going to be decided by one goal in our favor, but we just couldn’t get any shots to fall,” Juba said. “Maddix [Archer] hit the post in the first half on a free kick. It was a great chance and she did everything she could. We did everything that we could with the chances that we had. 

“[Lincoln] is a strong team and we gave it our best fight. I’m absolutely thrilled with the direction that we’re moving and how these girls have decided to play possession with this formation. I think it’s suiting our style of play and I think people are starting to see our identity in that we can possess against the best of them.”

The Patriots have yet to lose a game this season as they are now 8-0-1. Juba said his team knew what he was getting into and was proud of the way his team hung around and didn’t give up.

“Obviously when you come in and play [the No. 2 team] that hasn’t lost a game yet, you kind of have that in the back of your mind, but we put up a really good fight. To be down 1-0 at halftime is absolutely thrilling in a game like this. I still think we gave it everything we had and I still think we have momentum from last week. These girls have shown that no matter the game they’re going to play their butts off,” Juba said.

Brookings had one shot on goal and it came from Elise Lefers. Archer hit the post twice and had three total shots. Lefers had the other shot for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats are 3-5-1 and sit in 13th place in the Class AA standings. They have four games remaining and three of them are against teams with winning records. Juba said it will be a tough stretch for the ‘Cats, but he thinks they can make some noise and move up in the standings before playoffs.

“We have some winnable games coming up. Is it a tough part of our schedule? Yeah, but I think we can definitely pull out some results. Even if we can get some draws, that’s good for us. I’m hopeful and I really think that we’re going to end up a higher seed than we already are now,” Juba said.

Brookings plays at Pierre on Thursday at 3 p.m.