2 days Ago By Conrad Engstrom
BRAINERD — It was all about the corner kicks Tuesday, Sept. 17. The Brainerd Warriors scored both their goals on corner kicks in a 2-0 Central Lakes Conference and Section 8-3A win.
Both teams came into the contest Tuesday 5-0 in the conference. ADVERTISEMENT “Tonight, I think it was about our depth,” Warriors’ head coach Grant Gmeinder said. “We played 16 kids tonight and had some great performances off the bench.
Macayla Green and Madi Bertram played great games off the bench. I think our depth showed out. We had the legs.
Kylee Soens played 35 minutes of that second half because those girls were able to give her a break.” The Warriors scored their first goal at the seven-minute mark of the first half. Gracie Jackovich kicked a corner to set up Lilly DeRosier for a goal to give Brainerd a 1-0 advantage.
“We wanted to get one off the bat to feel secure,” Jackovich said. Gmeinder added: “Corner kicks have been such a weapon for this year. A huge part is the girls taking the corners.
They put the ball in such a great spot for our girls to attack it. Gracie Jackovich had a couple of good ones tonight, so did Macayla Green and Myia Nelson. It’s such a weapon.
” Gmeinder said Jackovich can even score on corners. “She can score it or get the assist on the corners,” Gmeinder said. “She’ll do either one and she’s been great.
She’s been so aggressive and playing a new position this year. She loves to come forward and have a little fun on a corner kick, which is good.” ADVERTISEMENT The Warriors tallied two shots on goal in the first half and held the one-goal lead.
“We really needed to calm it down and get good touches,” Jackovich said. “We wanted to push it up the field as well.” Brainerd collected the insurance goal with 10 minutes remaining when Jackovich set up Levi LeMieur for a goal.
“It was nice to get that second goal and have a 2-0 lead,” Jackovich said. The Warriors totaled 10 shots on goal, with eight coming in the second half. Sartell recorded seven shots on goal all saved by Brainerd’s Chloe Patrick.
“With the way Sartell sets up, I thought our defense did great,” Gmeinder said. “It took a little more communication tonight than a typical game and I thought our girls did a nice job, especially in that second half. Ava Lust played fantastic and it seemed like she was everywhere in the second half.
I’m really proud of that defensive group.” Brainerd moves to 7-2 overall and hosts Sauk Rapids Thursday, Sept. 19.
ADVERTISEMENT “This was a great win considering last year we were struggling,” Jackovich said. “It’s a great win and hopefully we can stay undefeated in the conference for the season.” Gmeinder added: “We are continuing to find that consistency.
I’m just trying to get the girls to understand that I don’t think we have played our ‘A plus’ game yet. We need to continue to improve and continue to work and we want to play our best at the end.” CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.
[email protected]. Follow on Twitter at www.
twitter.com/the_rad34..
