State drive alive

Minot High gets two goals from Lauren Butler to top Braves

By CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writer chaupert@minotdailynews.com
Time and time again, Mandan junior goalie Ree Metz kept Minot High School’s shot attempts out of the net in the first half of a West Region girls soccer game.


All the attacking paid off for Minot in the second half when it scored three goals on the way to a 3-1 win Monday at Optimist Soccer Complex.


“We attacked really well for the whole first half and we knew we just needed to keep at it,” MHS head coach Matt Pfau said. “It breaks (the other team) down when you get shot on continuously for a whole game. It wears on you eventually.”


The win puts Minot (3-4-2 West Region) one step closer to wrapping up the West’s final state playoff spot. Minot holds a tie-breaker over Jamestown, which plays Bismarck Century today. If Century wins, Minot is in.


“Go Century,” Pfau said.


Minot held a 30-7 shots on goal advantage and never allowed Mandan to get in a comfort zone.


“We just tried to play straight up,” Mandan assistant coach Levi Evans said. “We tried to attack in a 3-4-3 and tried to defend in a 4-4-2 and regardless, Minot has good players. At the end of the day you have to say Minot has the better players. We knew going in that they would have more shots.”


Minot senior forward Lauren Butler scored Minot’s first two goals of the game. The first came with 30:41 to play in the second half and the second came about two minutes later.


It ended a stretch of 20-plus fruitless shot attempts by the Majettes. Butler was thrilled to help get Minot on the board after a frustrating first half.


“We had a lot of good passes in the first, we just didn’t get good shots,” Butler said. “In the second we tried to get everything we could to the net.”


The game was in doubt again a short while later as Mandan senior Jessika Peterson scored with 15:30 remaining. Peterson’s goal came off a nice cross by teammate Jessica Liffrig, a junior.


Minot responded with a goal by senior Kenzie Reiter with 5:47 to play. It was assisted by sophomore Amanda Vinsant.


Minot had comparable shots on goal stats in the first and second halves —  14-16 — but made more of their chances in the second. It all boiled down to decision making.


“I think it was just being a little more patient, finding the open player,” Pfau said. “We had good opportunities to shoot in the first half and we’d pass the ball instead. Or we’d shoot from 25-30 feet out, a little farther shots. We just told them in the second half to control the ball, make the pass and just be patient. That was the biggest thing, to relax and be patient.”


Minot High plays host to Bismarck High Tuesday.