The Becker Bulldogs boys soccer team has had a busy couple of weeks and the overall trend has been the ability of the players to find the back of the net. While it didn’t show in Tuesday night’s 4-0 loss to North Branch, the Bulldogs did pile up some goals in their previous two games.
North Branch
The Bulldogs fell victim to the Vikings’ senior night celebration Tuesday and weren’t able to match the energy in suffering the shutout.
“It was a game played on turf and it took some time to get used to it,” said coach Nick Crowley. “North Branch was pretty amped up with it being their Senior Night.”
Becker’s best chance to get on the scoreboard came on a Max Rositas free kick that ended up hitting the crossbar.
Chisago Lakes
Last Friday the team battled Chisago Lakes to a 3-3 tie. Becker fell behind early, but mounted a serious comeback to even things up.
“It was a little upsetting being down 2-0 only 15 minutes into the game,“ said Crowley. “But we bounced back and I was pretty proud of the guys for clawing back two goals before the half.”
Becker’s comeback started at the 24th minute of the first half, as Senior Bodie Moore scored for the Bulldogs. Micah Boyer followed that goal up with one of his own eight minutes later on a nice setup assist from Ray Lyon.
Fifteen minutes into the final stanza, Chisago scored again to take the lead, but Becker had the energy and tenacity to come back again. This time it was Boyer’s assist that set up Lyon for the game tying goal.
“It took us a little bit to get into the game, but once we did, we moved and passed very well,” added Crowley. “I hope we can continue to bring that same energy to our last 4 games.”
Saints/Hornets
The previous week, Becker split two games dropping a 4-1 contest to St. Francis and defeating the Big Lake Hornets 4-1.
The contest against the Saints was a cold, wet and sloppy affair that saw Becker down 1-0 at halftime. Becker trailed 3-0 in the second half before Max Rositas notched the lone Bulldog goal of the evening.
Against the Hornets, Crowley said his team played much better than an earlier season draw against their rival.
“We managed to have half of our shots on net this time instead of just two shots on net,” said Crowley. “We moved much better off the ball, our offense was very dynamic and our defense managed the game very well.”
Junior Chris Stich scored the first Becker goal, as he was assisted by Max Rositas early in the second half. Just a minute later, Senior Captain Ray Lyon connected with Max Rositas on a free kick for the second goal.
Next up, Senior Chase Murphy scored his first varsity goal on a rebound at the halfway mark of the second half for a 3-0 Becker lead. Big Lake answered with a goal off the throw in, but Senior Captain Carson Makarrall, assisted by Sophomore Micah Boyer, scored Becker’s final goal with about five minutes left.
