Girls soccer: Lakers get first won of the season in Crookston

CROOKSTON- Not only was Thursday the first time the Detroit Lakes girls soccer team scored this season, but it was also the first win.

“We had some pieces fall together,” Lakers’ head coach Ben Aastuen said. “I’ve been telling the girls they have the pieces, and they came together yesterday.”

The Lakers beat Crookston 3-1 on the road, moving to 1-4 on the season. Kaydence Sweirs started the scoring in the first half to give Detroit Lakes a 1-0 lead at the midway point.

“It shows our girls some success,” Aastuen said. “It shows them what a win feels like. Now they know they can attain it. It took us 35 minutes in the first half before we scored our first goal. But I told my assistant coach once one of them goes, we’re going to see that it’s possible. Sometimes you need to see that it’s possible to keep pursuing it.”

Crookston tied the game off the foot of Madeline Hackett 10 minutes into the second half before Haydon King’s goal regained the Lakers’ lead five minutes later. Abby Larson returned to the lineup to score the insurance goal with seven minutes left to put the game away.

“I think, during the beginning of the season, we had to get through some really tough opponents,” Aastuen said. “It was getting frustrating not getting positive results. My message yesterday was to continue this feeling and continue this work ethic. It’s because of those losses that got us to this point. Now, we need to keep doing the good things and keep growing, so the season rolls on positively.”

Aastuen was excited to see some key pieces come back to the lineup after missing some time, including a senior captain.

“We had Clara (Lundmark) come back from a concussion. It’s so great to have her back,” Aastuen said. “At the end of the day, I’m just so proud of these kids. We got through that tough start and never let our heads down. I’m so proud of their tenacity and the way they worked through it.”