ST. CLOUD - The Willmar boys soccer team gave up two first-half goals and couldn’t get the equalizer in the second half before No. 2-ranked St. Cloud Apollo iced a 3-1 victory in a Central Lakes Conference game on Tuesday.
It was the Cardinal second-straight loss to a top-two Class A team. Willmar fell 3-2 to top-ranked Mankato West on Saturday.
“Overall, we did OK considering we played the No. 1 team in the state Saturday and the No. 2 team (Tuesday),” said Cardinals head coach Jeff Winter. “I don’t put a lot of stock in rankings - that’s why we play the game. But we held our own.”
The Cardinals, who had been flat early in recent games, pressured the Eagles in the first 10 minutes of the game, Winter said, but Apollo scored on a quick counter, with Aidan Sim-Campos hitting the net in the 17th minute. Najeeb Mahmoud made it 2-0 Apollo with a goal in the 39th minute.
Willmar’s Marcos Nino scored an unassisted goal in the 46th minute to shave the lead but the Eagles Kevin Argueta scored 14 minutes later to sew up the match.
Willmar outshot the Eagles 11-8.
“Our kids are hanging their heads a little because we lost a couple of tough games,” Winter said. “But I think they’ll be OK by Thursday.”
The Cardinals play their Homecoming match against Fergus Falls at 5 p.m. Thursday at Kennedy Field.
SC Apollo 3, Willmar 1
Willmar (3-2-2, 7-3-2)..............2 1 - 3
SC Apollo (6-0-2, 9-0-2)..........0 1 - 1
FIRST HALF – S: Aidan Sim-Campos 17:00 … S: Najeeb Mahmoud 39:00
SECOND HALF – W: Marcos Nino 46:00 … S: Kevin Argueta 60:00
SHOTS ON GOAL – W: 11 … S: 8
GOALIE SAVES – Willmar: Manny Obregon 5 … SCA: Cooper Gray 10
DEFENSIVE SAVES – None
