Owatonna boys soccer split weekend contests

“I was extremely impressed by our guys.” 
That was Head soccer coach Bob Waypa’s expression when his No.15 ranked Huskies battled 1AA opponent Lakeville North on a rainy Saturday in Lakeville to a 0-0 tie. 
The tie comes just days after losing their season opening match up to Burnsville on Thursday night 4-3. 
Head coach Bob Waypa noted that previous matchups greatly impacted their game plan for the contest. 
“We kind of knew how they were going to attack us. We discussed how they were going to overload one side and who was going to be responsible. It’s very tempting to go out and try to stop them but we had to realize that we needed to be disciplined,” he added. 
In the first half, the Panthers attack was appearing to be firing on all cylinders, dominating the time of possession and consisting trying to put shots on net. In fact, the first shot from the Huskies didn’t come until the 25th minute. 
However, despite what appeared as fast and up-tempo ball movement, the Panthers managed to register just two shots on goals.  
“We just kept preaching to stay in front of shots. Our defense was outstanding and really blocked a lot of shots that would have tested our keeper,” he said. 
Senior ‘keeper Aiden Buryska was lights out for Owatonna. The senior was all over the crease, leaping and diving to try and deflect any stray shots from Lakeville. His strong leg helped alleviate some of the pressure within their zone and even showed a few opporutinutes to try and string an offensive attack of their own. 
“He played really well for us today. He did well for us last year and this year he’s taking it to another level. He made one spectacular save in the first half that was labeled upper corner but since he’s got his positioning spot on, he makes those saves,” he added. 
 
Waypa also added that while Buryska made the saves when he needed to, the defense in front of him was outstanding today. There was a slight window of opportunity for Lakeville to get onto the scoreboard in the 19th minute off a corner kick that a Panther forward attempted to head into the net but went just wide. 
In the second half if was much of the same result as the previous one. 
Owatonna failed to capitalize on two corner kick situations in the 24th and 35th minutes when both attempts by senior Daniel Kelley veered just right of the goal. 
Defensively, the Huskies came out much stronger. Numerous Lakeville chances were thwarted by Owatonna’s smothering defense blocking shots in front of the net. 
Waypa praised the performance of sophomore defensemen Alex Beaver, who was making his first career varsity appearance. 
“It was it first ever start at right corner and he was impressive,” he added. 
 
The second half continued to display the aggressive style of attack for the Panthers. However, Owatonna’s defense was just too fundamentally sound. 
It was a continued defensive effort as a whole by the Huskies, who wouldn’t allow a shot on goal in the second half and also displayed good positioning on the corner kicks to try and disrupt any plays on the ball from a Panther attacker. 
 
After no scores in regulation play, the game went to two five-minute overtime periods and would ultimately end in a tie. 
While it may be frustrating for any team to only record three shots on goal, Waypa mentioned that the offense understood the defensive game plan might have affected the attack a bit. He also mentioned that offensively it would come. 
“We had three practices before this weekend’s contests and players are still getting to know one another. I think each game we’re going to get better and better. 
Burnsville 4 Owatonna 3
In Owatonna’s season opening game, the Huskies made a quick jaunt up I-35 to face the Blaze in a nonconference matchup Thursday night. 
Nate Smith scored two goals to lead the Huskies. He gave Owatonna the 1-0 advantage after finding the back of the net at the 14th minute. Just before the half, Abukar Fakrudin added Owatonna’s second goal of the game to break a 1-1 tie. 
It continued to be a back and forth contest as Burnsville would added another goal to tie the contest at 2-2. Smith would add his final goal of the contest in the 7th minute of the second half to give the Huskies their final lead of the contest. 
After Burnsville tie the match up again, the Blaze would add the dagger. In the 77th minute, Alex Dodd fired a shot to the back of the net to bring the lead to 4-3. 
In what would be a last chance effort, the Huskies had an opportunity to tie the game after a free kick, but could only watch as it was deflected by a Burnsville defender and rolled out of bounds with less than a minute remaining.