BROOKINGS — The Brookings Bobcats split a doubleheader with the Sioux Falls Jefferson Cavaliers at the Fishback Soccer Complex on Thursday night.

The girls team won the opener 3-1 while the boys team lost the second game 3-1.

The Bobcats will return to action when they host Sioux Falls Washington at the Fishback Soccer Complex for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Girls

Brookings 3, Sioux Falls Jefferson 1

The Bobcats won their fourth game in a row, defeating the Cavaliers in the opener of Thursday’s doubleheader. 

The recent hot streak has helped Brookings force their way into the Class AA playoff picture and head coach Adam Juba believes the momentum began when they defeated Huron 10-0 to begin the streak on Sept. 10.

“We went out and scored a bunch of goals and that really gave us a boost of confidence to move forward,” Juba said. “I think the girls recognized that we needed to start stringing some wins together and something clicked between all of them and we’re playing as one big unit.”

Offense has been a key theme during the Bobcats’ winning streak. While they haven’t put up double-digit goals like they did in Huron, they’ve scored seven across the past three games and three goals in each of the last three games.

That includes Thursday’s victory, which began with an aggressive offense approach. Outshooting the Cavaliers 10-1, Shae Lefers put Brookings on the board with a goal from Sophia Schmit with 6:43 to go in the first half. Aubrey Giard doubled the lead with 1:06 remaining but Elleh Brown scored with 57 seconds left in the first half to send the Cavaliers into the half down 2-1. 

But while Brookings has been able to score goals, they’ve also improved defensively, which was on display in the second half. While Ashley Rients was strong in the net, Juba also credited the work of Liv Ragsdale and Berkley Stoltenberg to help “park the bus” and secure the win.

“Liv and Berkley are so fantastic as center-backs,” Juba said. “They’re really organized. They’re smart and work well with Ashley, who comes up with some big saves.”

Juba also credited Ragsdale and Stoltenberg with turning their defense to offense and finding Rylee Briggs and Lefers upfield.

“They really know how to distribute the ball and get us going forward,” Juba said. “They find Riley and Shae, who get it wide to our players and it’s just a whole team effort. At that point, everyone’s realizing that we have to play together.”

Grace Romsa scored the final goal of the game for Brookings with 12 minutes remaining to secure the win. 

Lefers led Brookings with four shots including one on goal. Aubrey Knutzen, Giard and Briggs had four shots with two shots on goal. Lexi Erp, Paisley te Velde and Romsa each had two shots with one on goal.

With the Bobcats' record improving to 4-7-1 on the season, Juba’s goal for the final two games is to continue their strong play beginning with Tuesday’s homecoming matchup against Sioux Falls Washington.

“We need to keep pushing and keep playing the way we’ve been playing,” Juba said. “Have that grit and keep putting together complete 80-minute games and good things are going to happen for us.”

Boys

Sioux Falls Jefferson 3, Brookings 1

The Bobcats wrapped up a tough stretch of the schedule, falling to the Cavaliers in the nightcap of Thursday’s doubleheader. Despite the loss, Brookings coach Reece Weber was encouraged by their play not only against Jefferson but over the past three games as they’ve played some of the top schools in the state.

“Going into those three games, you want to be hopeful and say you’re going to get three wins out of it but obviously, that didn’t happen,” Weber said. “But I’m proud of the boys in the way they’ve battled in the last three games that made the other team work for it.”

The Bobcats rattled off a five-game unbeaten streak midway through the season to put them in the conversation to earn a home playoff game but back-to-back losses to top-ranked Sioux Falls Lincoln and eighth-ranked O’Gorman put Brookings back on the bubble.

The Bobcats came out of the gate strong against the third-seeded Cavaliers when Forest Giard scored an unassisted goal but Jensen Hyronimus evened the game for Jefferson a few minutes later. 

Anthony Hernandez Barrera scored for Jefferson to give them the lead with 15:10 left in the first half and the Cavaliers added two more goals, one from Caleb Brink and another by Hyronimus, to put the game away in the second half.

Still, Weber and the Bobcats left encouraged due to the effort throughout the game.

“There were just a couple of little moments where we lacked a little bit of intensity defensively and they pounced on it,” Weber said. “In the second half, one goal came on a really good strike and then we were pushing forward and were going to give up space behind but they were just a little bit better in those moments.”

Tony Nguyen made six saves for the Bobcats, who also had three corner kicks in the game.

Brayden Schreiber and Giard each had two shots with one on goal. Dominic Van Hofwegen had four shots with a shot on goal. Braeden Love had two shots. Keller Peterson and Connor Shelden each had a shot.

After falling to 5-4-2, the Bobcats will head down the final stretch of the season beginning with Tuesday’s game against Washington. Weber hopes that his team will take what they’ve learned and apply it to the final games while also becoming motivated to finish the year strong.

“I want to see a reaction out of the boys,” Weber said. “We’re going to play two teams that aren’t going to be as strong as the last three we’ve played. So, I want to see the same intensity that we brought to these higher-level teams over the final two games.”