WILLMAR - A late goal by Alexandria’s Devin Crowe allowed the Cardinals to escape Willmar with a 1-1 tie in a Central Lakes Conference game on Monday.
Willmar’s Alex McLouth scored a first-half goal and the Cardinals’ defense made the goal stand until the 75th minute.
Crowe charged into the box as the ball slipped away from Willmar goalie Charlie Trochlil and defender Jaden Wright. Crowe retrieved the loose ball near the right post and punch a shot into the open goal.
Willmar outshot Alexandria 19 to 9 but couldn’t avoid hitting the post, crossbar or hitting shots just wide or over the goal, said Willmar head coach Jeff Winter.
“It’s the Cardinal hex,” said Winter, whose team lost 2-1 at Alexandria in overtime on Sept. 12. “Something happens when we play them - we just don’t shoot very well. We had a lot of shots but just couldn’t get them in.”
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Willmar forward Isaac Yoakum hit a post and the crossbar during one attack and other good Cardinals scoring chances narrowly missed or were turned away by athletic Alexandria goalie Zach Lamb, who made 18 saves.
Alexandria, which entered the game on a three-game losing streak, improved to 3-6-1 in the CLC and 4-8-2 overall.
Willmar is 8-4-2 overall and 4-3-2 in the CLC and Willmar wraps up the regular season this week by facing St. Cloud Tech at St. Cloud State University today at 7 p.m. and hosting Brainerd on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Willmar 1, Alexandria 1
Alexandria (3-6-1, 4-8-2) 0 1 0 0 - 1
Willmar (4-3-2, 8-4-2) 1 0 0 0 - 1
FIRST HALF – Wil: Alex McLouth (Christian Vallecillo) 7:00
SECOND HALF – Alex: Devin Crowe 75:00
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FIRST OVERTIME – no scoring
SECOND OVERTIME – no scoring
SHOTS ON GOAL – Alexandria: 9 … Willmar: 19
GOALIE SAVES – Alexandria: Zach Lamb 18 … Willmar: Charlie Trochlil 7
DEFENSIVE SAVES – Jordi Lopez 1
