It was a better second half for the Mitchell High School boys soccer team, but it still fell to Brandon Valley 6-0 on Saturday at the Pepsi-Cola Soccer Complex.
The Kernels trailed 5-0 at halftime, but coach Ken Novak said they cleaned things up at the break. The Lynx recorded 20 shots in the first half, but only two in the second half.
"The stats tell a tale of two halves," Novak said. "The second half we performed much better. The first half we struggled to possess the ball and connect our passes."
For Mitchell, Ben Ziebarth had two shots on goal. Dillon Robinson had one shot on goal. Goalkeeper Trevor Lambert finished with 16 saves on 22 shots for the Kernels, who fell to 0-3 and have been outscored 16-1 this season.
"I see our primary challenge at this point as matching players with positions that maximize their strengths yet offer a rotation for energy management," Novak said. "We have a lot of young players who find the word "utility" being applied to them and that's all right."
ADVERTISEMENT
Novak added that Beau Schoenfelder, Wyatt Haibeck and Landon Peterson had notable performances in Saturday's match.
The Kernels play at Sturgis on Friday.
"This week we will have some changes to the line up to balance speed, technical skill, and seasoned soccer savvy," Novak said. "We have moments of brilliant soccer, but they need to be more consistent and part of that consistency will be our continual focused effort of older players mentoring our younger players."
