BROOKINGS It took until the 78th minute, but Brayden Loves header off of a free kick found the back of the net and gave the Brookings boys soccer team a 1-0 victory over Tea Area on Tuesday night at Fishback Soccer Park.
Dominic VanHofwegen took the free kick that set up the game-winner. It was the second time in the past five days that Love scored a huge goal as he had the game-tying goal against Spearfish on Saturday that led to a draw.
We were creating chances throughout the game, said Brookings head coach Reece Weber. I dont see us a big danger on free kicks all the time, but we do have one player, Brayden Love, whos willing to go up and attack the ball and it found his head and he flicked it into the goal. It was an unreal goal. He did that against Spearfish. He scored with two minutes left to tie the game and he did it here. So, big time from him and hes a senior whos coming in hot for us.
Brookings had 11 shots in the game and nine of them were on goal. The Bobcats controlled most of the second half as most of it was played in Teas half of the field. Weber said he and his brother made some changes after the first quarter of the game did not go to plan.
We didnt look great in the first 20 minutes, so me and [assistant coach] Jake [Weber] made some changes to the formations. We then dominated the last 20 minutes of the first half and I thought we dominated the second half. We had all the chances and they didnt have anything. We probably could have scored three or four more goals, so we have to find a way to finish those so we can have a more comfortable game, Weber said.
Love and VanHofwegen each had two shots on goal. Forest Giard led the Cats with four shots on goal. Brayden Schreiber had two shots and one shot was on goal. Keller Peterson had one shot.
Brookings had nine corner kicks in the victory. Tony Nguyen played all 80 minutes as goalkeeper and he had four saves.
Weber said hes been proud of the way his team has not given up and played all 80 minutes in their first two contests of the season.
Were willing to fight till the end, which is really good and what we want to see. Those are two perfect examples of that, scoring two late goals against Spearfish and then scoring a late one tonight. Its just really big for the boys to stay committed to the game for all 80 minutes, Weber said.
Up next, Brookings will host Aberdeen Central on Saturday at 12 p.m. Weber said he thinks this type of win can give the Bobcats momentum heading into their next game.
Its a big time win and a confidence booster. We believe that we can play with anybody and that we can beat anybody. So, to go out and show that on paper is big and its a big confidence booster for the guys, Weber said.
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