The Brookings Bobcats wrapped up a three-game homestand this week as they split a doubleheader with Brandon Valley at the Fishback Soccer Complex on Thursday night.
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BROOKINGS — The Brookings Bobcats wrapped up a three-game homestand this week as they split a doubleheader with Brandon Valley at the Fishback Soccer Complex on Thursday night.
The Bobcats will return to the road when they travel to Harrisburg for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Bobcats enjoyed another fast start, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes to provide all the offense they needed in a 2-0 win over the Lynx.
Forrest Giard continued his hot streak scoring unassisted in the first minute for his fourth goal in the past three games and Brandon Valley added an own goal in the ninth minute to give Brookings an early lead.
“We’ve been using a new system when we start games that’s been leading to a lot of goals,” Weber said. “It shows that the system is working and then we can lock a game down, be a little bit more defensive where we don’t need to score goals.”
The two-goal lead followed the blueprint perfectly as the Bobcats shifted to a defensive mindset. While Giard stood out, so did the Bobcats' depth, which mixed in to keep fresh players on the pitch to preserve the win.
“We’re using a lot more guys off the bench than I would say we did last year and we did in the first few games,” Weber said. “Everywhere across the field, everyone has been solid and confident with everybody on the field and confident with everyone that comes in off the bench. Everyone knows their role, everyone does their job and they’re all doing well.”
The Bobcats had one corner kick in the win and Tony Nguyen had five saves.
By sweeping the three-game homestand, the Bobcats improved to 4-2-1 on the season ahead of the trip to Harrisburg on Saturday. While Harrisburg’s turf field will make things a little different, Weber believes that his team’s recent play can carry over into the middle stretch of the season.
“At the end of the day it’s a soccer game,” Weber said. “We’re going to try to do the same things we’ve been doing.”
The Bobcats came up short but Brookings coach Adam Juba believes they played their most complete game of the season in a 3-2 loss to the Lynx on Tuesday night.
“I think that was our best stretch of 80 minutes that we played this year,” Juba said. “I hope that we can keep building on that moving forward.”
Brandon Valley came out aggressively early, using their speed and shooting ability to take an early lead. Katie Brown put Brandon Valley ahead with a goal in the 11th minute and Madison Pederson gave the Lynx a 2-0 lead in the 20th minute but the Bobcats weathered the storm as Liv Ragsdale scored in the 22nd minute to cut the lead in half.
“I think they came out a little hotter than we thought they would and with a little more speed than we saw last year,” Juba said of the Lynx’s performance in the first half. “That was a little unexpected but we adjusted well.”
Pederson scored her second goal of the game in the 45th minute but the Bobcats adapted and kept putting on the pressure until Shae Lefers scored on a free kick in the 70th minute.
Knutzen and Ragsdale had the lone shots on goal for Brookings in the game.
While the Bobcats couldn’t find the equalizer it was a solid effort that encouraged Juba.
“They shot the ball really well but I think we won the possession game,” Juba said. “I think going forward, we’re going to keep possessing the ball. We got two goals tonight instead of one, so I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
