Bobcat girls soccer aims to win playoff game for first time

BROOKINGS – The Brookings girls’ soccer team is having one of its best seasons in school history.

The Bobcats are 5-3-1 on the season and that’s the most wins since Brookings sanctioned girls soccer as a high school sport.

Brookings head coach Adam Juba said he thinks the Bobcats have come together and that has led to the success so far.

“I think the attitude that the girls have towards the season and their willingness to celebrate those young players that come in and give those starting 11 a break [has been huge],” Juba said. “Even if it’s just for a couple minutes, all of the other girls that are on the field are like, ‘Yeah, let’s go, you got this.’ And really are building them up and building each other up.

“On the same side, when girls are critiquing each other, they don’t take it personally. They understand that what we’re trying to do is to go out and win games, and they’re trying. We’re trying to help each other get better and I think that’s really awesome.”

The Bobcats won four of their first five games. They beat Rapid City Central 5-2 before losing 5-0 to Rapid City Stevens. Brookings then bounced back with wins over Sioux Falls Roosevelt (5-0), Tea Area (2-1) and Mitchell (4-1). The Bobcats proceeded to play Brandon Valley to a 1-1 draw before losing to O’Gorman (3-2) and Pierre (1-0), but then beat Aberdeen Central 1-0.

The Bobcats have five seniors on this year’s team in Lexi Erp, Aubrey Girard, Abbi Poppinga, Hannah Schreiber and Rylee Briggs. They also have six juniors with Grace Romsa, Tori Deming, Berkeley Stoltenberg, Ramsie Hinricher, Paisley Te Velde and Lindsey Walker.

Having that many upperclassmen is a big deal in high school sports and Juba said all of them have done a good job of being leaders.

“I think [the upperclassmen] are really setting the example of celebrating each other and are willing to work together and work hard,” Juba said. “When we met before the season started as a team, I asked the question, ‘What is the goal for this year?’ And the goal the girls said was to win a playoff game because we have not won a playoff game since we’ve been sanctioned as a high school sport.
“So, we asked what are the components that go into that and they just said effort. Like, we have to put in the work, so I think that’s been huge. The girls have been willing to put that work in and continue to work really hard, even though we’ve gotten into the thick of the season and we’re practically playing games every other day.”

On the field, the Bobcats are averaging 2.6 goals per game and they give up 1.6 goals per game. Juba said it really has been a collective effort and the Bobcats have been working as a unit to generate wins.

“I think it’s honestly been a collective set up. I don’t know that I could really single out any one person that has grown and stood out. I think it's collective growth and standing out as a team because all of these girls push each other in practice, which makes each other better, and I think that’s been absolutely huge,” Juba said.

Brookings plays at Yankton on Tuesday afternoon and due to the Beacon’s print deadline, that result will not be in this story. The Bobcats will then have four matches left in the season. They’ll host Harrisburg, who is 9-0 on the season, on Thursday at 6 p.m. Brookings will then play at Watertown on Sept. 22 and at Huron on Sept. 29. The Bobcats will close out the regular season on Oct. 1 with a home game against Sioux Falls Lincoln.

Right now, Brookings sits in seventh place in the Class AA standings. If the regular season ended on Monday, the Bobcats would host a playoff game, which is the ultimate goal for Juba and company.

“I would like to get as many positive results as we can, meaning ties or wins, from here on out,” Juba said. “I think that’s huge for us. I talked with the girls, and part of the way that we’re going to win our first playoff game is getting a playoff game at home. The girls believe that would help a lot because we’re one of the few grass fields in the state, and we think that gives us an advantage.
“I think the girls have really understood that and understand that we just need to minimize the amount of losses for the rest of the season. If we do that, everything else will fall into place, and the girls have done a fantastic job of taking it one game at a time and putting in the work.”