Central Lakes Boys Soccer Willmar 1, St.Cloud Tech 0
WILLMAR -- Defense, flawless goalkeeping and one bang-bang scoring play added up to Willmar's first victory ever over St. Cloud Tech in boys soccer Monday.
Senior keeper Danny King stopped all 13 Tigers' shots and Sergio Flores scored the game's only goal 15 minutes into the second half as Willmar trimmed the three-time defending Central Lakes Conference champions 1-0 at Kennedy Field.
"I was so pumped for this game, but I never thought we would shut out Tech,'' said King, an all-conference choice last season.
It was a rare loss for St. Cloud Tech, which is 40-5-2 in Central Lakes Conference matches since the league formed in 2001.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the previous four falls, the Tigers had outscored Willmar 55-3 over eight matches.
True, St. Cloud Tech is rebuilding after losing 14 seniors but it was still Willmar's biggest win in the program's sixth year.
After a sluggish defensive showing in a 3-0 loss at Mankato East Saturday, Coach Richard Courtney moved Josh Aslesen back to sweeper to provide better coverage near the goal.
"We were in a defensive mode for Tech," said Courtney. "They lost a lot but are still very good, and we figured on a low-scoring game."
While the Cardinals were outshot 13-8, they had the stronger chances.
The icebreaker came on a 2-on-1 breakaway down the middle with Flores and Anis Iman exchanging taps until Flores got off a clean shot past the sliding Tech keeper. Shaun Keeley had come outside the box to challenge the break but Flores whacked a low shot to the threads.
Ferdi Guerrero's long pass ignited the break.
"We have more depth than last year," said Courtney, who led Willmar to its first winning season in 2004 after going 0-17 in his first year here. "We've got a bunch of good players."
ADVERTISEMENT
He singled out midfielder Iman for running the field to help control play. He rested only five of the game's 80 minutes.
Willmar 1, St. Cloud Tech 0
St. Cloud Tech (0-1, 0-1) ..............0 0 -- 0 Willmar (1-0, 2-1) .......................... 0 1 -- 1
FIRST HALF - no scoring
SECOND HALF - Wil: Sergio Flores (Anis Iman) 15:30
Shots on goal - St. Cloud Tech: 6-7-13 ... Willmar: 3-4-7
Goalie saves - St. Cloud Tech: Shaun Keeley 6-5-11 ... Willmar: Danny King 6-7-13
NEXT -- Willmar: Thursday at St. Cloud Apollo, 7 p.m.
