RAPID CITY—One week of tryouts and only four days to prepare for the first game didn’t slow down the Stevens Raiders girls’ soccer team at all on opening night.

Defensively and on set pieces the defending Class AA champions looked like they were in mid-season form as they pounced Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 3-0 Friday night.

Rachael Eisenbraun netted the first goal for the Raiders when teammate Caroline Wermers found her in space about six yards outside the goal. Eisenbraun then made a composed finish into the corner of the net.

“We knew Roosevelt was going to be a tough match,” said Stevens head coach Troy Anderson. “They play a clean possession game, and we knew we were going to have to put pressure on them. We have a lot of speed and used it to our advantage on a couple of counter attacks.”

In what was a physical contest all night the Raiders midfield and back four put in some serious work defensively holding Sioux Falls to just two shots and dominated possession for much of the game.

After Stevens took the lead with the opening goal in the 16^th minute the game became slightly bogged down in the midfield. However, at the start of the second half the Raiders started creating chances and it finally paid off in the 61^st minute. Megan Anderson took a corner kick and found an unmarked Shannon Keller who hammered the ball into lower corner giving the Raiders a 2-0 lead.

“We made things happen away from the ball,” said Anderson. “The girls made some runs into space and provided good service which created the scoring chances.”

Stevens capped the night with a 75^thminute goal when Anderson’s free kick deflected to Lexi Pszanka who took one touch and tapped in the third goal of the game.

Stevens (1-0) hosts Brandon Valley today at 1 p.m..