Century goal keeper Mauricio Huerta must get bored standing at his net with nothing to do.

    It’s hard to get much action in front of the goal when you have a backline that refuses opponents entry, and that’s exactly what center-defender Mark Yensen and the D-backs did in their 3-0 shutout over Twin Falls at Century High School Saturday afternoon.

    Does Yensen feel bad about keeping Huerta from feeling any pressure?

    “No,” he said. “I prefer it that way.”

    Apparently, so does Century head coach Rocky Rhoads. He thinks Yensen is playing some of the best soccer he’s seen from the junior.

    “Yensen is kind of like the glue back there in front of Mauricio,” Rhoads said. “I can’t stress enough how much he is to our team.”

    Yensen and his group of defenders, Joseph Kramer, Ike Martinez and the rotation of Anthony Rollins and Quentin Anderson all come together to keep the ball clear of the net, but it’s Yensen who spearheads the movement.

    “You just play calm and try to be composed,” he said. “I see Cade (Roske) in front of me and pass him the ball and off he goes.”

    And every time the Bruins dared to advance into Yensen’s territory, that’s what he did. Without a hitch, Yensen would get the ball up to Roske at center-half to transition possession seamlessly to the D-back offense where Dan Mende, Tyler Hoffa and Reece Foulkrod did the rest.

    It was a Roske pass to Foulkrod at the left corner of the box in the 34th minute that gave Century a 1-0 advantage after Foulkrod slammed the ball into the right of the net.

    “Cade put (Foulkrod) in a spot that he really didn’t have to worry about anything — he just had to put it home,” Rhoads said. “(Roske) makes sure everybody gets touches. He dictates the tempo, the flow, everything in the game.

    “Today he was kind of at his best.”

    The Diamondbacks’ second goal occurred in the far right corner of the field in the 47th minute. With Hoffa applying pressure to the Twin Falls backline, he zipped the ball parallel to the goal where it bounced off a Bruin defender and bounded harmlessly into the goal.

    “It was an own-goal by definition, but Hoffa turned the defender in the box and put a ton of pressure on,” Rhoads said. “From our standpoint, all credit goes to Hoffa on that one.”

    A shot from Mende in the 73rd minute put the D-backs up for good.

    The Diamondbacks (5-1-1, 2-0 4A 5-6 District) have given up six goals in seven games this season. Rhoads says his team is progressively getting better, and he’s hoping they don’t plateau until the regular season ends and postseason play begins. If Century’s evolution from the first game of the season, a 2-0 loss to Hillcrest, to now continues its upward trend, Rhoads may get his wish.

    “We’ve definitely made a lot of improvements,” he said. “Our mantra amongst the team is, ‘let’s get better.’”

    Roske thinks he knows how his team can do so.

    “We’re just starting to figure out to keep it on the ground and be patient when we attack,” he said. “We get better every game. That’s our goal — to improve every game and hopefully we go far.”

    Century will look to maintain its progression when they host Preston Thursday at 4:30 p.m.