Boys' soccer: Redbird boys fall to Tech 3-0

Talk about it

The Cardinal boys’ soccer team played its best soccer of the year in the final two weeks of the season, but that season came to an end this past Saturday with a 3-0 loss against St. Cloud Tech.

The Tigers came into the tournament as the Central Lakes Conference champions but were pushed to the limit on October 6 in a 1-1 tie against Alexandria.

Ian Krafnick was too much for the Cardinals to handle this time around. After scoring the only goal for St. Cloud in the tie game last Monday, the CLC’s leading goal scorer netted all three goals for the Tigers this time around as he gave his team a 3-0 win.

Alexandria played with confidence and controlled the tempo at the beginning of the game. In the 18th minute, though, Krafnick took the ball up the left sideline and made a move to the middle of the field where he ripped a low shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Krafnick added to that 10 minutes later with another good move to beat the defense and give his team an insurance goal. He then put the game away less than two minutes into the second half with a goal to make it 3-0.

The Cardinals have not quit all season long and they did not on this night either as they put together a few scoring opportunities that were turned away by a Tech team that was content with playing defense the rest of the way.

With just more than 10 minutes remaining, and Alexandria trying to break onto the score board, senior captain Brady Miller collided with the Tigers’ keeper in what resulted in a broken leg for Miller. The game was delayed 30 minutes while the teams waited for an ambulance to arrive and take him off the field.

It was a tough way for the senior to end his Cardinal career. Fellow captains Kevin Desautels and Charlie Warnes, along with Tyler Krueger, David Beck, Jordan Zemba, Bryan Erickson, Nick Wacholz, Corey Nelson, Steve Trandahl, Michael Wandersee and Dakota Baldwin also played their final game in an Alexandria uniform.

“When the final whistle blows you realize it is the last time this team will be together on the field and it makes for a very emotional moment,” head coach Wes Thompson said. “After the game, I told the team that I couldn’t be more proud of any team that I have coached. It would have been very easy for this team to quit earlier in the season when we weren’t playing very well, but they kept working and finished the regular season as the hottest in the CLC.”

The Cardinals ended the season with a 4-11-3 record overall to go along with a 3-8-2 mark in the CLC.

Tags: sports, boys, soccer, alexandria, cardinals, section, 8aa