The Becker Bulldog boys soccer team has faced a gruesome schedule recently and along with some injuries, suffered three losses this week to fall to 5-6-2.
Storm 4, Bulldogs 0
Monday, the Bulldogs played a section opponent when they hosted the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm.
“It was a tough way to start a week as the Bulldogs looked like they were running on rubber legs,” said Head Coach Alex Jurek.
The Storm took advantage of their shots early and went into the half up 2-0. The Bulldogs had no answer in the second half, allowing two more goals to lose 4-0.
Little Falls 5, Becker 0
In their fifth game in six days, Becker traveled to Little Falls Tuesday to face the Granite Ridge Conference foes.
Becker was without four of their starters and just couldn't keep pace with the Flyers. Little Falls took away second place in the conference from the Bulldogs with an easy 5-0 win.
Delano 3, Becker 2 (OT)
The Bulldogs traveled to Delano Thursday to face the top team in the Wright County Conference.
For the third match in a row, the Bulldogs were limited in their starting line-up due to injuries.
Sophomore Noah Arrigoni started his third game on varsity in goal and the Tiger attack was strong in the first half and eventually scored in the 22nd minute.
The Bulldogs shored up their defense and played well heading into halftime down 1-0.
Delano lost some of their tempo as the Bulldogs began to create strong sends and attacks on Delano's goal. Early in the second half, Bulldog senior Captain Josiah Borst sent in a corner kick and junior sweeper Andrew Davalos headed the ball past the keeper for his first-ever goal.
Becker kept up the tempo and started to tally shot after shot on the Delano keeper and finally late in the half, senior Captain Matthew Paulson battled his way through defenders and placed a shot by the keeper to put the Bulldogs up 2-1.
Delano showed no signs of quitting as they answered in the 75th minute to send the game into overtime. With just two minutes left in OT, the Tigers struck the final blow to win the match, 3-2.
The boys travel to St. John’s Tuesday to take on the Johnnies, then return home Thursday to take on St. Cloud Cathedral.
