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New Life Academy 4, NB 0

The new-look Vikings trailed just 1-0 at the half, but New Life Academy scored three goals in the second to shut out the Vikings 4-0 in the season opener at home Friday, August 24.

"The results look disappointing," said new Viking head coach Peter Grand. "But, we've got a lot of new players and we're trying to learn to work together. We used six freshmen today. Seniors Kristen Robatcek and Kristen Kaminski have done a great job integrating the freshmen into the team.

"I told the girls not to worry," Grand continued. "We need to continue to work together as a team. The results will come. Once things click, we'll start to see success on the scoreboard, as well. Several observers said they'd never seen the Vikings play better, so that gives us some encouragement, too."

The Vikings were scheduled to play at St. Paul Johnson Tuesday, August 28 and will travel to Fridley to take on Totino Grace tonight, Thursday, August 30, at 7 p.m. They'll be in Fridley again next Tuesday, September 4, to battle the Tigers at 5 p.m.

BY CHUCK FITZER

New Life Academy 3, NB 1

The Vikings nearly avenged last season's section playoff loss to New Life Academy. But, a late goal sealed a 3-1 victory for the Eagles Friday, August 24 at North Branch.

New Life opened the scoring in the first half on a brilliant header coming from a corner kick and scored again later in the first half, making the score 2-0. The Vikings kept battling and answered with a goal of their own from sophomore Brian Grand, assisted by junior Tom Mork, to make the score 2-1 at halftime.

Down by only one goal, the Vikings brought extra personnel up front in the second half to engineer an attack. It looked like Grand would earn his second goal of the night on a breakaway 15 minutes into the second half. The Eagle goalkeeper charged out of the net and made the save as he collided with Grand, who was injured on the play.

The Vikings were forced to play without Grand the remainder of the match. They nearly tied it a few minutes later when freshman striker Tony Ceroll launched a shot that just missed the upper right corner of the goal. Soon after that, senior captain Sean Karvonen placed a well-aimed, direct free kick on goal that forced the New Life goalkeeper to make a diving save.

The Eagles eventually scored their third and final goal late in the game on a free kick that hit the goal post and ricocheted in, making the final score New Life Academy 3, North Branch 1.

"I think we saw a lot of positives Friday night," said Viking head coach Brad Gustafson. "First, our defense is improving each year. By only allowing three goals, we put ourselves in a position to win the game. Last season, when New Life netted five goals, we found ourselves in a deep hole. And, the starting ninth graders did very well. Tyler Ertl, Trent Klatt and Tony Ceroll all played major roles in what was a very competitive game."

"One standout performance came from Daub Bartylla, the team's starting goalkeeper," continued Gustafson. "He was forced to charge out of the net several times to make plays on breakaways. He showed great courage and poise in what are high stakes plays. And, I love the way our team responded when we lost Brian. However, at this point I'm not as concerned about our soccer team as I am about Brian. I'm praying for a quick recovery for him."

The Vikings were scheduled to host St. Bernard's Monday, August 27 and to host Duluth Denfeld Tuesday, August 28. They'll open the conference season tonight, Thursday, August 30, at Totino Grace in Fridley at 5 p.m. They'll head to Fridley to take on the Fridley Tigers Tuesday, September 4 at 7 p.m.

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