(Photos Sam Hurst)

RAPID CITY–Stevens beat Yankton 3-1 Saturday afternoon in the “play-in” round of the state high school soccer tournament. It was expected. Ho hum. After all, the Raiders were the 4th seed in the state, and the Yankton Bucks, who had won only one game all year, were the 13th seed. Dead last.

So, naturally, Yankton jumped out early to a 1-0 lead.

This year’s “play-in” format is enough to put the fear of God into a highly ranked team that starts slow and falls behind against a lowly opponent.

The top three teams in power points–Washington, Lincoln and Spearfish—won automatic seeding to next Thursday’s State Tournament. But the other ten teams played “one-and-done” match-ups on Friday and Saturday to round out the State Tournament field of eight. One game. Winner takes a trip to Mitchell next Thursday. Loser goes home.

Stevens, ranked 4th, drew Yankton, ranked 13th. On the other hand, Roosevelt, ranked 5th drew Central, ranked 12th on Friday night and the Cobblers sent the Rough Riders packing 3-2 in double overtime. Yankton didn’t have to be the best team in the state on Saturday. They didn’t have to be better than Stevens in a series of three or five. They just had to win one game.

So, when Yankton jumped out of the grass and bit Stevens in the ankle, only eighteen minutes into the game, it got the Raiders’ attention.

It wasn’t that Stevens played a poor first half. Yankton just played inspired. Stevens head coach Luis Usera didn’t make any halftime adjustments. He didn’t change up positions or his approach. But he was blunt with his team. “I told them, ‘…do you want this to be the last 45 minutes of soccer you play this season?’ They all said, ‘No’. I asked the seniors to lead, by playing hard. And I asked the sophomores and juniors to give the seniors a gift.”

From the first minute of the second half, Stevens was up tempo. Logan Schaefers drove a strong header into the goal from a Barry Vargo throw-in for Stevens’ first score at the 54-minute mark. “How many headers have you made in your career?” I asked the senior after the game. “Three.” “How many this year?” “This would be the one.”

Headers are rare, and Schaefers’ electrified the team. But Usera was quick to point out that he practices them every week. “They’re a good weapon if you have someone like Barry Vargo, who can make a good throw-in, and that one was great.”

With a new found confidence, Stevens dominated the second half. Chaney Burns scored the second goal for Stevens, and Chaz Foss took a throw-in from Schaefers at 76 minutes and scored on a breakaway up the middle to put the game out of reach with the third Stevens goal.

Yankton played the first half on adrenaline and the thrilling dream that they might pull off the same kind of upset that Central had pulled off Friday night against Roosevelt. But as the second half clicked down, reality set in, and Yankton ran out of steam.

After the game, Stevens midfielder Skye Lawlor was asked why the team played so hard in the second half. “Because we were losing.” He said. That’s the drama of a one-and-done format.