Apr. 30—DICKINSON — After an 0-4 start to the 2023 season, the Dickinson High School soccer team has its first win with a 7-0 home thrashing of Turtle Mountain Community High School-Belcourt on Friday, April 28, 2023 that featured seven different scorers. The performance by the defense was equally dominant, as the Bravettes (0-5) didn't register a single shot-on-goal in the game.

The program is still in its infancy, having begun play at the varsity level just a couple of years ago, but head coach Celeste Hughes said the game is just the sort of building-block she can use to show the team just how far they've come in a short time.

"They let people that normally don't get shots on goal to be able to take that shot, so I was actually really proud of what they did today," Hughes said. "The majority of these girls are still, maybe, two years playing — or three — so we're still trying to learn."

The windy conditions weren't exactly soccer weather, but the Midgets used nature to maintain a ton of pressure over Belcourt and a total of 21 shots-on-goal in the first half, 12 of them on-target and 3 of them finding the back of the net to give DHS a 3-0 halftime lead.

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DHS girls soccer team defeat Turtle Mountain Community High School on Friday, April 28.

Josiah C. Cuellar / The Dickinson Press

The first goal came at the 5:15 mark in the game off a corner-kick from freshman midfielder Taylor Murphy that met the knee of sophomore midfielder Charity Hughes. During the opening minutes of the contest, Dickinson pressed the Bravettes and peppered the goal with shots from eighth-grade forward Bella McLaughlin and Hughes.

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But while sophomore defender Abby Sample provided a solid defensive presence to keep Turtle Mountain on their heels, the Midgets were rewarded for their efforts in the 19th minute as McLaughlin connected with senior midfielder Elise Dybwad after an intercepted pass to make the score 2-0. Dybwad almost connected again less than two minutes later, but the shot sailed over the crossbar, while McLaughlin forced a save a minute after that that nearly made the score 3-0.

But McLaughlin would soon be rewarded for her efforts in the 24th minute after she collected the ball on an errant Bravette pass and let loose with a shot from more than 20 yards out that sailed into the top-right corner of the net and gave DHS a 3-0 advantage. The Midgets would continue to press Belcourt for the remaining sixteen minutes of the first half, forcing a pair of corner kicks and hitting the post in the 31st minute, but it remained 3-0 at the break.

"It was very good, I mean, I was proud of the girls," Hughes said. "They passed a lot, they were open with each other and they were talking to each other and communicating and they were just helping each other out."

The second half offered more of the same, as the change-of-side didn't halt Dickinson for even four minutes as sophomore forward Lauren Selle found the back of the net 3 minutes and 19 seconds into the second-half. Averie Wax notched the 5th goal of the game a few minutes later after intercepting a Belcourt pass at the 10-minute mark, and the game went into a bit of a lull, with DHS failing to slot home a penalty-kick off a handling call in the box.

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DHS girls soccer team defeat Turtle Mountain Community High School on Friday, April 28.

Josiah C. Cuellar / The Dickinson Press

But junior midfielder Gabi Padilla would make the game 6-0 with roughly 12 minutes left to play on a tenacious goal, fighting her way through three Turtle Mountain defensive players, and senior forward Ella Healy finished off the scoring in the 35th minute and the game ended at 7-0.