YANKTON A very tight game throughout was decided at the very end, as the Vermillion Tanagers came away with a 3-2 victory Saturday over the James Valley Christian Vikings in the South Dakota Class A state championship game at Crane-Youngworth Field in Yankton.
The Tanagers controlled the ball on their offensive half of the field for much of the first half.
Just five minutes into the game, Vermillion had the first prolonged attack at the goal, getting a pair of shots on goal. Viking goalkeeper Jonah Niederbaumer turned one of the shots away.
Five minutes later, the Tanagers would have another attack at the net, with a shot going inches wide by Teagan Wells, and after roughly a minute of ball-handling on the Vermillion side, a long shot went well wide.
James Valley moved quickly when they did have possession, and Gavin Waldner moved quickly past the Vermillion defense, and attempted a centering pass to Noah Fast and was just a hair off, allowing Vermillion to intercept.
Two minutes later, Niederbaumer had to make a save on a strong shot by Wells from in front of the goal. At the 18-minute mark, Wells attempted a centering pass and Niederbaumer came out to cover it up.
Noah Fast attempted to launch the ball into the goal area at the 18:30 mark, but his shot sailed up and over the goal.
After nearly ten minutes of back-and-forth in the middle of the field, Ian Job put his foot to a long shot attempt for Vermillion that sailed up and over the goal.
The Vikings broke the scoreless tie in the 32nd minute as Gavin Waldner made a quick move, shed two defenders and outran another defender into a clear shot on goal that he put past Vermillion goalkeeper Cameron Robb.
Vermillion came right down and worked the offense before getting a long shot that went well wide in the 33rd minute and then James Nissen took a shot attempt from midfield that sailed wide at the 35-minute mark.
James Valley had its first prolonged work at the Vermillion goal at that point, with Waldner working the ball into Noah Fast.
Fast got himself clear and fired a shot that Robb had pop out of his hands, but he recovered and stopped the shot before it crossed the goal line, sending the two teams to half with the Vikings ahead 1-0.
The Tanagers continued their aggression with the ball in the second half, as Job and Wells both missed shots because the JVC defense deflected the ball on the way toward goal.
Wells then had a crossing shot that Niederbaumer covered in the 46th minute and then Vermillion sailed a long attempt over the goal in the 50th minute.
The Vikings got the ball downfield to Waldner, who made a move past two defenders and was one-on-one with Robb before he was tripped by Robb, but no call was made.
Vermillion went right back on the attack, and Wells mishandled a pass near the net and missed to the left but Job then split two defenders and fired into the corner of the net past Niederbaumer to knot the score 1-1.
Michael Roob launched a ball from 40 yards away for Vermillion that went up and over the goal, but Job then drew a penalty kick as he was tripped on his way to the goal. James Nissen took the penalty kick and put the ball between Niederbaumers outstretched hands and the top of the goal for a 2-1 lead for Vermillion.
The Vikings attacked quickly, and Waldner had a centering pass to Isaac Fast that Fast pushed just wide.
The Tanagers attacked from distance but missed on two shots.
The Vikings then went on the aggressive attack, with Waldner splitting the Tanager defense but sailing a shot attempt high.
JVC quickly got the ball back and Noah Fast and Waldner worked a give-and-go through the Vermillion defense, with Fast setting up Waldner for a sharp goal to knot the score 2-2.
The two teams then played to a stalemate, though Vermillion put eight shots toward goal over the next 15 minutes of play, none of them successful.
With 90 seconds left on the game clock, Job took a pass, found a brief opening in the JVC defense and rocketed a shot into the upper corner of the goal, finding the net for his 20th goal of the season and a 3-2 lead for Vermillion.
The Vikings could not get an attack put together in the last minute.
Job was awarded the offensive player of the game for Vermillion, while JVCs Jonah Niederbaumer received the defensive player of the game.
The Vikings finish the season with a record of 12-5 and could return their entire roster, as coach Jory Wipf has no seniors on his roster, representing the smallest school in all of South Dakota soccer.
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