By Bruce Karnick

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Karissa Thompson works her way across midfield hoping to put some pressure on the Eastview defense. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Thursday night, August 25, at Todd Field, the Eastview Lightning were a bit too much to handle for both Raider soccer teams. The girls lost their match 50, despite shots on goal being equal at seven. The boys fell 40 and were outshot 203.

The girls did a great job at the start of the game mitigating the Eastview offense, but Eastview quickly figured out the Raider defense. The Lightning scored three in the first, setting the tone for the remainder of the game. Senior keeper Lexi Qualy faced only seven shots on the night but still took the loss for the home/season opener.

The second game of the season took the Raiders to Bloomington Jefferson on Saturday. This game had a much different feel for the girls. The Raiders connected on their passes, held strong defensively and ultimately ended in a 00 tie.

“We have started with practicing defense,” said new Raider head coach Paul Armstrong. “It’s a new way of thinking about defense and really utilizing a team approach rather than a single person. There were a lot of occasions where the team did everything right and we got a turnover. We really saw that in the Jefferson game. It wasn’t the first person stealing the ball but rather having our player make the opponent make a mistake with a Hastings player ready to make the turnover.”

Armstrong explained the next steps were to focus on the tempo of the game and the offense.

“In the Eastview game, I felt we were trying to force the issue offensively rather than taking what the game had to offer,” he added.

“The score line of each game really didn’t reflect the overall performances. In the Eastview game, they had seven shots and five went in. In the Jefferson game, we controlled the midfield after a slow start. I am really proud of the team, and we have set important building blocks for the rest of the season with these first two performances,” said Armstrong.

On the boys’ side, there was a clear change in the focus of moving the ball with a purpose. The issue was, Hastings struggled to move the ball deep into the offensive zone. Every time they looked to be making a move to shoot, Eastview did a great job squashing the Raiders’ hopes. Senior keeper, Chase Harder faced 20 shots on goal and allowed only four in the loss.

“The guys played a solid second half and Eastview only scored goals on penalty kicks,” said boys head coach Jamie Swanson. “During the run of play we held them. The unfortunate and odd thing was that had three penalties against us.”

This Raider team has a very young feel to it with 12 of the 25 players being seniors. There are also five sophomores and one freshman on the varsity roster. For the younger players, sometimes the speed of the next level up can be a bit daunting at first.

Lily Bezdicek fights off an Eastview player as the girls attempt to gain control of the ball early in the first game of the season.Photo by Bruce Karnick

“The speed of play and strength on the ball is an area that everyone needs to better themselves in. Decision making under pressure can be better. That goes along with proper movement off the ball so the player on the ball has options to pass or dribble,” explained Swanson after the Eastview game.

Against Bloomington Jefferson on Saturday, Swanson felt things went better despite the 31 loss.

“We just didn’t score on the opportunities we had. Their keeper was very talented. We are learning a lot about the players we have, and how they come together to play the game. I think once the players get comfortable with one another’s skill sets and tendencies, we will find more success,” he said.

Swanson changed things up a little this year, “We decided to go with more of a highpressure mindset when defending in our offensive third. If we lose the ball, we want to get it back in eight seconds… We did create some opportunities off that, but their keeper kept all but one out of the back of the goal on Saturday.”

The girls will take their annual trip to Duluth to take on two schools up there over two days. Their next local action is at Farmington on September 6 at 7 p.m. then at Tartan for another 7 p.m. game on September 8. They finish the week with a Saturday game at Apple Valley at 1 p.m. The boys are off until September 8 when they travel to Tartan for a 5 p.m. tilt. They come home for Friday night game at 7 p.m. on September 9.