Lynx cream the Kernels

A continuous drizzle made for wet and sloppy conditions when Brandon Valley faced O’Gorman Aug. 15, but rain or shine, the Lynx came through with a 3-2 win over the Knights. 

“The rain forced both teams to make a lot of mistakes, but it was really a game of two halves,” said Lynx head coach Chris Limmer. 

O’Gorman put BV under a lot of pressure in the first half and scored two goals. 

“At half-time I just told the guys we need to take more chances, be more direct, and put their defenders and goalkeeper under more pressure,” Limmer said. “That’s exactly what we did.”

In the second half the Lynx kept their same basic formation while moving a few players around with a renewed focus on offense. From the start, Brandon was in control. 

A mere 29 seconds into the second half, Caden Nichols took a pass from Eli Kirlin and crossed the ball into the box. O’Gorman’s goalkeeper misplayed the ball, and it slipped under him and into the goal.  

“This really deflated their team and gave ours a spark,” Limmer said. 

Six minutes later Nichols received the ball out wide and played another ball in toward O’Gorman’s defense, which was again misplayed by a Knight defender due to the slick surface of the field. Wyatt Haas picked up the loose ball, dribbled away from the defenders and beat the goalkeeper with a good shot to even the score. 

A tie against O’Gorman would have been a decent result, Limmer said – but the Lynx kept pushing for another goal. 

Play was even over the next half-hour. Then, with three minutes to go in the game, Haas got the ball just outside the box and took a shot on goal. 

“The O’Gorman goalkeeper made a good diving save, but the deflection went right into the path of Jacob Johnson, who was making a good follow-up run,” Limmer said. “Johnson made no mistake and tucked the game winner just inside the near post for his first goal of the season.”

The Lynx won 3-2.

BV 5, Mitchell 0

The Lynx dominated the Mitchell Kernels Saturday at McHardy, taking 23 shots to the Kernels’s five. Thirteen of BV’s shots were on goal.  

“Our goalkeepers only had to make two saves,” Limmer said. “We dominated possession throughout the game as well.”

The Lynx boys opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Jacob Johnson played a great through ball to Wyatt Haas, who beat the defenders with his pace. Haas was one on one with the goalkeeper and beat the goalkeeper with a hard-hit shot for his third goal in as many games. 

Ten minutes later, a Mitchell defender cleared the ball into the path of Carson Barton, who hit a curling first-time shot into the upper left corner for his first goal of the year. 

With 15 minutes to go in the half, the Lynx earned a corner kick. The Mitchell goalkeeper made a save on a shot from Luke Burch from the ensuing corner kick. The save went right to Dylan Skovly, who found the back of the net for his first goal of the year. 

The Lynx finished the half strong by earning another corner kick with six minutes minutes to go. Caden Nichols sent the kick in front of the goal and Johnson volleyed his second goal of the season past the goalkeeper. 

The Lynx finished scoring for the day with 10 minutes left in the game. Jacob Frantzen sent a cross into the box from the right side of the field. The cross went over the goalkeeper’s head, and Luke Higgins streaked in to tap it into the far post for his first goal of the year. 

Goalkeepers Sedric Barton and Carson Johnke combined for the Lynx’s second shut out of the season. Each was credited with one save.

“In all, it was a good team effort. We were able to use 21 different players throughout the match,” Limmer said. 

“We have been fortunate to have had three home games to start our season, and to have a 3-0 start. Now, we have three difficult away matches coming up that will test us,” he said.

Brandon Valley faces Washington Aug. 25 in Sioux Falls.