There's something about Grand Forks Central that brings out the best in Tyler Axtman.
The senior had two goals to break open a close game Tuesday. He also had an assist, leading Grand Forks Red River to a 4-1 win against the Knights in boys high school soccer.
Axtman has five goals this season -- three of them have been against Central.
"You play extra hard against Central. It's the rivalry,'' Axtman said. "And it's a big game for us. If we were to lose, we wouldn't have a chance to get to state. It was pretty much a must-win for us.''
The win moves Red River (7-5-6) into fourth place in the Eastern Dakota Conference. Red River has 12 points, one ahead of Fargo South. Red River can wrap up the EDC's fourth and final state tournament berth with a win against visiting Fargo Davies on Thursday, or if West Fargo beats South in their game Friday.
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Red River had taken a 1-0 lead on Cody Jennewein's goal three minutes into the game. Then Axtman struck twice early in the second half. First he hit a 25-footer from in front of the net. Then he scored a minute later from a tough angle on the right side, a high shot from about 30 feet out.
"After the first one, I wanted to get off another shot,'' Axtman said. "I was pretty surprised when it went in, though. It was so far out, and I thought it was going over (the cross bar).''
The bigger goal? According to Central coach Mike Wilber, it was the first. "The second goal (Red River scored) took the wind out of our sails. We were going into the wind in the second half. Goals were going to be tough to come by,'' Wilber said.
The 3-0 advantage on Axtman's second goal was big for Red River, however. The Roughriders have allowed an opponent as many as three goals only once all season.
"Three has been our magic number,'' Red River coach George DuBois said. "We have enough confidence in our defense that we feel we're not going to give up three goals very often.''
Derek Schleicher's goal at the 49-minute mark on an Axtman assist made it 4-0. Central's lone score came by Taylor Deem with six minutes remaining.
"It was a tale of two halves,'' Wilber said. "When we had the wind to our backs in the first half, we didn't generate offense like we needed to. And they played great defense. When they had the wind, they took advantage of it.''
Ben Lofgren had five saves for Central, which closed its season at 5-12-2. Andrew Butkowski had seven saves for the Riders. "Andrew got tested a few times,'' DuBois said. "He was solid. With the way our defense was playing, he wasn't forced to do anything spectacular.''
