Lakeville North Soccer took on their bitter crosstown rival Lakeville South in front of a developing crowd Thursday evening.

The opening few minutes were a stop and go affair as both teams looked hesitant to get out in attack, focusing more on not making mistakes on defense.

It was Olaf Morkeberg who broke the deadlock scoring 15 minutes into the first half after a deflected ball fell right to his feet and he smashed it to the back of the net.

It seemed like the Panthers would cruise to an easy victory when Isaac Fennewald blasted a shot from outside the 18 yard box right past the Cougar keeper giving the Panthers the 2-0 lead. Coach Tyma added post game “We played our soccer in the first half, we had that 2-0 lead for a long time.”

Just when it seemed like the Panthers would be able to coast to a rivalry victory Lakeville South clawed a goal back with just 5 minutes left in the first half. Coach Tyma “we just got complacent I think, we were going through the motions too much.” North managed to cling to the 1 goal lead heading into halftime.

The Panthers were also able to fend off multiple Cougar attacks in the beginning of the first half but the Cougar tenacity just proved to be too much as Lakeville South evened the score on a beautiful chip shot off of a bouncing ball that sailed over a helpless Matt Collins. Tyma said “They (South) got their second goal and it was like, here we go.”

The game tightened up as the teams headed towards an impending overtime and the crowd’s emotions swayed with each pass. Lakeville South won a corner with just 15 seconds left in the game and pulled their goalie into the box in a last ditch attempt to get the winner. The Panthers did shoot the ball the length of the field and score but it was after the regulation whistle.

In overtime the Panthers had the majority of the offensive position but couldn’t quite find the final touch. While the game officially ended in a 2-2 draw the two teams had a penalty shootout to determine who would walk away with the traveling trophy. It was ultimately Lakeville North who won the shootout behind multiple Matt Collins saves.

Coach Tyma’s final thought on the crosstown rivalry ending in a 2-2 draw “We’re kind of fortunate to come out with a tie, not a loss because they (South) worked their butts off and reminded us what it’s like to want something.”

Lakeville North Panthers 2 vs Lakeville South Cougars 2

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