BROOKINGS — The Brookings Bobcats earned a split as they hosted a soccer doubleheader against Yankton at the Fishback Soccer Complex on Tuesday night.

The girls team opened the doubleheader with a 2-1 loss to the Gazelles before the boys team scored a 3-1 victory over the Bucks in the nightcap.

The Bobcats will return to action when they host Brandon Valley for a doubleheader at the Fishback Soccer Complex beginning at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Boys

Brookings 3, Yankton 1

The Bobcats continued their recent offensive hot streak, scoring all three of their goals in the first half to defeat the Bucks on Tuesday.

“We switched some tactics up,” Brookings coach Reece Weber said of the recent offensive success. “We pressed a little bit more than we did in the first couple of games and we’re just putting players in dangerous positions so we can play to our strengths a little bit more.”

The Bobcats were in their element in the early stages of the game when Forrest Giard scored on a breakaway in the fourth minute to give Brookings the early lead. Brayden Schreiber scored 67 seconds later to double the Bobcats’ advantage before Giard got free again for another breakaway goal in the 32nd minute for a 3-0 halftime lead.

It was an offensive breakout for Giard, who scored his first goal of the season during Saturday’s win over Mitchell.

“He got off the mark against Mitchell, so I hope that took a little bit of stress off his shoulders,” Weber said. “He’s just a fantastic athlete when he’s pressing the ball. He can win the ball high and he did very well to finish his two chances tonight. It was a big-time performance from him.”

With a three-goal lead, the Bobcats’ defense made sure it held up as goalkeeper Tony Nguyen had a spotless night with two saves until Yankton’s Alexander Swihart scored with 56 seconds remaining in the game for Yankton’s lone goal of the night.

Giard finished with three shots and two on goal on the night while Schreiber, Braylon Peters and Brayden Love each had a shot on goal. Seth Vogt, Isaiah Bachman and Dominic VanHofwegen all had a shot in the win.

The win notched seven goals for Brookings in their past two games and helped the Bobcats (3-2) go over .500 for the first time this season. With a chance to mount a winning streak against the Lynx on Thursday, Weber believes his team is getting hot at a critical time in the schedule with five Eastern South Dakota Conference games in 10 days.

“Starting off the stretch with two wins, we’re just trying to keep the momentum rolling,” Weber said. “I think some of our changes are working well and some of the boys have stepped up here. I think we’ll have a tough game on Thursday but I think we’ll put in a good battle.”

Girls

Yankton 2, Brookings 1

The Bobcats played a strong second half but the offense came too late in Tuesday’s loss to the Gazelles.

“I think we really dominated the game, holding onto the ball and playing a formation that was very much more defensive,” Brookings coach Adam Juba said. “We could get possession of the ball and attack better and it seemed to work very well for us. It just came a little too late for us.”

Yankton jumped ahead early on a goal by Remy Kusel in the sixth minute and extended its lead to 2-0 when Iyana Becker scored in the 46th minute. While Yankton had a 9-4 advantage in shots, Grace Rumsa scored with 43 seconds remaining in the match for the Bobcats’ lone goal.

“It was great to see her get that goal,” Juba said. “She’s lethal. She’s willing to run past that back line and just go after it and get behind the back and fight for it to get the ball in the back of the net.”

Aubrey Giard had two shots with one on goal while Lexi Erp and Aubrey Knutzen each had a shot for the Bobcats.

While Juba was pleased with his team’s effort, he would like to see the offensive fireworks start earlier when the Bobcats host the Lynx on Thursday.

“Most of our goals have come in the last five to ten minutes of the game,” Juba said. It’d be nice to score a little earlier and I think we need to possess the ball in the attacking third of the field. We’re great building out of the back. We’re fantastic at building on the side and today we possessed very well out of the back. But it’s when we get across that half line of the field that we struggle a little bit.”