DETROIT LAKES — Being the new kid in town is never easy. For Luis Moreno, he’s accepted the challenge of bringing new life to the Detroit Lakes girls soccer team . The Moreno era began with a hard-fought 4-0 loss to Section 8AA rival Little Falls on Thursday, Aug.
22 at home. The Flyers walked away with their third consecutive season-opening victory over the Lakers. Despite the first-game jitters, the scoreboard didn’t reflect the effort of the Lakers throughout the first 40 minutes of the 2024 season.
ADVERTISEMENT “I think our girls were a bit nervous first half when we came out,” Moreno said. “How I would describe it was we were playing to not lose instead of playing to win. And then second half, I just told them to, ‘Hey, be yourself, it's okay and just let it go.
Iyou make a mistake, let it go.’ But I just needed more effort, more energy from all of them, and they really picked it up second half.” The night's first score came from the foot of Little Falls’ Richelle Thompson in the opening 10 minutes of the match.
She scored again 12 minutes later to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead with 19:23 left before the break. Detroit Lakes’ Sedrah Krogsgaard sent the game into halftime with a missed opportunity that had Laker fans convinced the ball found the back of the net. The Lakers kept the ball at the feet for most of the game but continued to narrowly miss shots on goal like Krogsgaard’s strike before the half.
Detroit Lakes carried the momentum into the second half where Krogsgaard continued her shooting barrage. Before the clock struck zeros, two more Flyer goals crossed the goalline. Moreno took over a youthful team that showed promise in his first game at the helm.
But with an inexperienced squad, he was forced to put younger players into important positions. The biggest being freshman Mari Rufer, who had her first varsity start in goal. She took over shot-saving duties from star goalie Elle Bettcher, who graduated this past spring.
Bettcher became the program's career saves leader with 884 and set a Minnesota state record for most saves in a singles season (412). “Out of my 11 players, I think she (Rufer) was the one who was most nervous,” Moreno said. “And that's okay.
She's really young, but I'm proud of her for stepping up and taking the field with the other 11 more experienced girls.” Rufer saw four ball get past her but gained key experience as she’ll continue to grow into her role as the last line of defense. But Moreno wants to see more from the girls in front of her to make her life as a young shot-stopper easier.
ADVERTISEMENT “From our defense, we just need to work on the little things,” he said. “Don't let a ball bounce, clear the ball when it needs to be cleared or just be a little more aggressive. If they're playing more of a boot-ball and they got fast girls, then maybe we need to adapt to their style as well.
” Three of Moreno’s six seniors were handed captains’ patches to be his extended voice on the field and in the locker room – Tea Janich, Maren Skadsem and Haydon King. Skadsem didn’t see action because of an injury. But King showed why she is a special talent.
The senior midfielder is coming off a 2023 season where she was handed All-Conference honors and awarded as the Lakers’ Top Gun and Most Valuable Attacker . She used her bag of tricks during the summer where she played hero for Xolos Academy FC MN at the USA Cup to win the Gold - B championship. Her stellar footwork constantly had Flyers guessing.
King’s IQ of the beautiful game allowed her to find open teammates and direct those who might’ve been lost. King’s poised to be one of the best attackers in the conference and section. “Haydon is phenomenal,” Moreno said.
“She brings that X factor to the team and extra spark. She really lifts the girls up. I would consider her one of our best players in the squad, and she really lifts and motivates the younger girls, which I like about her.
” Moreno took the job because he wanted a new challenge as a head coach. The Pelican Rapids native went to school at Minnesota State University Moorhead where he got his bachelor's degree in Spanish Education. He went straight from being a Dragon to Bismark where he started his coaching career at Legacy High School.
For five years, he coached the junior varsity boys and girls in his first three years before becoming the co-head coach for the girls in his final two. As a man who likes to push himself, Moreno wanted to see if he was actually good at what he loved to do. ADVERTISEMENT “The Bismarck teams that I had, I had a lot of talented kids, so I was used to having talented squads,” he said.
“This was a new challenge for me and something different, just something a little different. I was also like, ‘Am I really a good coach or do I just have a good team?’ I feel like this will give me also a reality check, and I want that.” Moreno isn’t focused on the numbers in the win and loss columns.
His main goal in his first season of steering the girls soccer ship is to make everyone better. “If that means winning some games, then so be it,” he said. “But I want to take everyone from a level, let's say they're at level three.
I want to end the season with everyone being at a level seven or a level eight or so on. I want to make everyone better. Hopefully, by making everyone better, the program grows.
As the program grows, obviously, then the wins will come. We just have to be patient.” LITTLE FALLS 4 DETROIT LAKES 0 LF – 2 2 – 4 DL – 0 0 – 0.
