’Cats fall to Comets in season opener

By: 
Jason Ferguson

It was an offensive explosion last Friday evening at the Custer High School soccer team’s season-opening match against the visiting Rapid City Christian Comets, as the team’s combined for eight goals in a 5-3 Comet win, which was also the first game in that program’s history.
“Overall, compared to last year’s first game, I thought it was improvement,” Custer head coach Hannah Rehmeier said. “I think with our new formation we need a little more practice. We need some practice on where each position should be working in through the midfield better than we did Friday.”
It took all of two minutes into the match for the scoring to start, as Kiran Pesicka coverted a penalty kick for the Wildcats after the Comets were whistled for a handball in the box.
Just over a minute later, however, the Comets, who in previous seasons had been part of a co-op with Douglas and New Underwood, scored when Eli Egge dribbled through the Wildcat defense for he equalizer.
It appeared the Comets would take the lead in the 28th minute when a long run by Joaquin Petrik culminated with a shot that bounced of the crossbar of the Wildcat goal. It was Custer who reclaimed the lead, however, as Xander Dinius fired a shot from the penalty arc for a goal.
Only a few minutes later Dinius put the Wildcats up 3-1 when he won the ball on a scramble and fired a shot from virtually the same spot as his previous goal that hit the back of the net.
Just as they had the Pesicka goal, however, the Comets answered immediately, this time when Petrick collected a long pass from a teammate to kick the ball past Custer keeper Kendall Reynolds for score that sent the game to the half with the Wildcats clinging to a 3-2 lead.
The Comets tied the game three minutes into the second half when Brody Palmer kicked in a loose ball while Reynolds was on the ground after saving the first shot of the Comet attack.
The Comets scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 59th minute when a handful of Comets and Wildcats made their way into the Wildcat goal area on another Christian attack. After a Comet shot there was confusion as to which Wildcat would go after the ball, leading to another Palmer goal from point blank range.
Rehmeier said Custer’s defensive lapses could be blamed in part to missing a couple of upper classmen who traditionally would be playing defense for Custer but missed the game.
“Two people playing center, it was new for them. They both did a really good job,” Rehmeier said.
Rehmeier said senior Dylan Frank is among those who will be back for the next game, which she said will make a difference on the back end.
“He understands how to command and how the defense needs to rotate,” she said.
The final goal of the game came in the 72nd minute when Petrik broke loose for his second goal of the game.
“We have a lot to improve upon, but overall I was pleased for the most part,” Rehmeier said. “We had decent moments here and there that made me excited for the rest of the season.”
The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday morning for an 11 a.m. home game against the Douglas Patriots, followed by a Tuesday afternoon home game Aug. 27 against St. Thomas More. That game is set to begin at 5 p.m.
Rehmeier said the team has wanted another crack at the Cavaliers since losing to them to begin the season a year ago, and believes that will be a good matchup. As far as Douglas, she said, she isn’t sure what to expect as Douglas is still in a co-op with New Underwood but lost all of its players from Rapid City Christian this year.

User login