It does not get any better than this for a soccer team.

Aberdeen Central made huge plays on both ends of the pitch in a 12-second span to capture a dramatic 3-2 boys’ soccer win over Huron in Eastern South Dakota Conference play at Brownell Activities Complex.

Goalie Zander Kuhfeld made a stop for the ages on one end, before teammate Tyler Bain scored the winning goal on the other end to give the Golden Eagles the victory.

“Just the save alone to save us from a loss, but just to go down and win on the other side, it was just overall a really good experience,” said Kuhfeld.

Huron was pressuring the Aberdeen goal the entire second half and eventually tied the score with about four minutes remaining. The Tigers had a prime scoring opportunity with 1:59 remaining when Kuhfeld made a jaw-dropping save.

The junior came out of the goal to meet an approaching attacker who fired a rocket towards the goal. Kuhfeld managed to block the shot to deny the opportunity.

“I came out and I stuck my leg out,” Kuhfeld said. “For a shot like that, sometimes all you got to do is spread out and pray. The shot hits my foot, (we) go up and score, I’ve never been happier.”

The save drew the immediate praise of Central coach Lance Mohr following the contest.

“Zander’s save here at the end is probably one of the best saves I’ve ever seen,” Mohr said. “It changed the game. It won us the game. It was fantastic.”

The Golden Eagles still had work to do, though.

Central quickly worked the ball forward where Bain broke free and had his own one-on-one with a goalie. The junior blasted a shot from about 20 yards out that landed in the upper right-hand corner in the back of the goal.

“I think if that wouldn’t have hit the net, that ball would still be rising,” Mohr said. “He absolutely hammered it, but he’s been trying to find his ability to finish here these last 2-3 games and today he came in when we needed it the most. He had two huge goals.”

The Golden Eagles had their hands full with the speed of the Huron players. Central’s defense was up to the challenge on nearly every occasion.

“Our goalie talked a lot, Zander and then my backline captain Hunter (Erickson), I’m kind of new to the position, he was kind of helping me out and told me where to run,” said Central senior defenseman Tyson Hassebroek. “Like coach said, when they dribble in the midfield they get their eyes up and that’s when we dropped, and that’s how we kind of kept pace, and our goalie came up with big saves when we kind of fumbled.”

Central took an early lead on a goal by Gavin Yost, but the pace of play by the Tigers offered challenges throughout the contest.

“They present so many problems with their style of play and just type of players that they are. They’re so quick, and decisive and shifty, and good in small spaces,” Mohr said. “We had a tough time adjusting to that in the first half and quite frankly it looked like we had cement in our shoes.”

The Eagles played much better in the second half, especially defensively, when Huron possessed the wind to go along with its quickness.

“The back line guys were fantastic in the second half,” Mohr said. “They were challenging and the midfield guys too, just jamming, our 50-50s, our duels, were much, much better.”

All to set up a finish that will be talked about for days and weeks to come.

“This last save here, this challenge save by Zander was off the charts,” Mohr said, “and the understanding to get it forward was just fantastic.”

Kuhfeld said his instincts just took over in the moment.

“I’ll be honest, I just went blank during it,” he said of his game-saving stop. “I saw the guy through on goal. I’m like well, time to make the save, but I have to give credit, my defense was playing good all game. I got to keep myself fresh for that.”

Kuhfeld made several key saves in the final 40 minutes against the relentless Huron players.

“You can tell they were fast and they got that shot off quick,” Kuhfeld said. “And you knew with that wind, that power was insane. You just have to step up, be big, take a couple of blows for the team.”

The Golden Eagles, who play at Brandon Valley on Saturday, improved to 5-1-1 on the season. Tuesday was a major step forward for a youthful Central squad.

“For how young our team is, I’m proud of them. Everyone stepped up,” Hassebroek said. “We never put our heads down and like I said our goalie came up with a huge save. That made us change and we got going and we scored. Tyler came up with a big finish. We just all came together and we played really well.”

Huron 1 1 – 2

Aberdeen Central 1 2 – 3

First Half: 1, AC, Gavin Yost, 6th minute; 2, H, Ronaldo Pineda, 20th minute.

Second Half: 3, AC, Tyler Bain, 55th minute; 4, H, Aung Myit, 75th minute; 5, AC, Bain, 78th minute.

Shots on Goal: Huron 5; Aberdeen Central 8.

Goalies: Huron, Micah Larson (5 saves); Aberdeen Central, Zander Kuhfeld (3 saves).