After watching his Lakeville North team pressure the Wayzata net for nearly the entire first half and come away without a goal, Panthers coach Jeremiah Johnson posed a simple question to his team at halftime.
“Who wants to change the game?,” Johnson asked.
Olivia Bruce. That’s who.
The junior forward didn’t raise her hand when Johnson asked, but let her actions on the field in the second half be her response.
Bruce scored two goals in less than two minutes to lift Lakeville North to a 2-0 victory over Wayzata.
“You find moments in the game; they aren’t even stretches of seconds, they are just moments when she just turns it on,” Johnson said.
Lakeville North (3-0), ranked No. 3 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll, needed Bruce’s high-energy play even more against No. 6-2A Wayzata (2-1). The Panthers were playing without last year’s leading scorer forward Alexis Tousignant, who missed the game for family reasons.
Before the game, Johnson said he wanted to see how Bruce stepped up to fill the void. The second-year head coach came away pleased.
“When (Bruce) turns it on and a couple other things go right and the rest of the team works together as a unit, she obviously has the ability to have success,” he said.
Bruce, however, was just happy to keep the team undefeated in Tousignant’s absence.
“(The Trojans) are a really good team, and with one of our forwards being out, it was nice to help (Alexis) come home to a win,” Bruce said.
Even with the pressure of filling in for Tousignant, Bruce maintained easy-going mentality.
“She’s pretty even-keeled,” Johnson said. “She jokes around and smiles all of the time.”
Panthers junior defender Temi Carda knows this all too well. Carda and Bruce met in kindergarten but didn’t get to know each other until they began attending the same youth basketball camps. They solidified their friendship after playing on the same fifth-grade soccer team.
The good friends have played on the Lakeville North varsity basketball team since eighth grade and are multi-year contributors on the varsity soccer team.
Whether on the court or on the turf, Carda’s trust in Bruce remains the same.
“I know I can always count on her to press at the right time (on the soccer field),” Carda said. “I know she will always try her hardest to go get the ball. On the basketball court, I can always count on her if my girl gets by me. I know that if I need help, she will be there.”
Bruce was also there to make the second effort when sophomore teammate Lauren Witte put a shot on net with less than 10 minutes to go the second half. Once Bruce got the first goal, Carda wasn’t surprised to see her get a second just 1 minute, 47 seconds later.
“On the soccer field, right after she gets a goal, her momentum just keeps going and going,” Carda said. “You see Olivia and she doesn’t stop and she gives her all at that time.”
Carda is glad she’s teammates with the spark that is Bruce.
“You wouldn’t want to go against her at all,” Carda said.
Perhaps an even bigger reason why Bruce is a likable teammate is her persona. Johnson describes the third-year varsity player as fun and goofy.
“I really like to have fun on the field,” Bruce said. “I like to make my teammates smile.”
However, it’s not only her teammates that she makes smile. Bruce’s fun attitude toward soccer is infectious for the coaching staff.
“Sometimes when you’re serious, you can’t help but smile when you look at her,” Johnson said.
From her enjoyable personality to her ability to shift the momentum in a game, Bruce is exactly what Johnson asked for at halftime against Wayzata: a game-changer.
“She truly plays the game because she loves the game,” Johnson said.
