WILLMAR -- The Willmar Cardinals couldn't hold a three-goal lead and settled for a 5-5 tie with Mankato East at Kennedy Field on Saturday afternoon.
Josh Aslesen's penalty kick four minutes into the second half put Willmar up 5-2.
But the momentum shifted to the Cougars as Willmar seemed to sit on the lead. Deploying its talented forwards, East fought back to tie the score on Adam Mohamed's second goal with four minutes left in regulation.
Both teams had good chances in the second half of the 10-minutes of overtime. Willmar goalie Ethan Vogel made one his 19 saves by diving to stop a dead-on shot by Mohamed. Willmar's Sergio Floris, who had two first period scores, hit the cross bar from 35 feet out and Aslesen was stopped on a break-in by goalkeeper Andrew Yarger.
Dennis Liebchen, exchange student from Germany, made a nifty goal at 35:00 for a 4-1 Willmar lead. Trent Fader scored two minutes into the contest for Willmar's first goal of the season after being shutout 1-0 by Marshall in Thursday's opener.
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Willmar 5, Mankato East 5
Mankato East (1-0-1) 2 3 0 -- 5
Willmar (0-1-1) 4 1 0 -- 5
FIRST HALF - Wil: Trent Fader 2:00 ... ME: Adam Mohamed (Brian Ewel) 6:00 ...Wil: Sergio Floris (Andred Prada) 16:00 .. Wil: Floris (Josh Aslesen) 28:00 ... Wil: Dennis Liebchen 35:00 ... ME: Shafi Qanyare (Mohamed) 37:?00.
SECOND HALF - Wil: Aslesen penalty kick 44:00 ... ME: own goal 62:00 ... ME: Qanyare (Noor Salim) 64:00 ... ME: Mohamed 76:00
Shots - Mankato East: 15-16-14 -45 ... Willmar: 8-7-4-15
Goalie saves - Mankato East: Eric Johnson, Andrew Yager 8 ... Willmar: Ethan Vogel 19
