Soccer boys edge Tigers

• Brandon Ludwig

Echo Press photo by Eric Morken The Cardinals’ Brandon Ludwig (12) went up high to get his body on the ball off a corner kick against St. Cloud Tech on Tuesday night. The ball deflected off Ludwig and into the goal for a 1-0 lead in the second half. That lead would hold up as Alexandria picked up its first win of the season over the defending Central Lakes Conference champions.

Talk about it

The Alexandria boys’ soccer team picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday night with a gutsy defensive effort against the defending Central Lakes Conference champions at Citizens Field.

The Cardinals and St. Cloud Tech played to a scoreless tie through the first 40 minutes of play. It was a goal midway through the second half that proved to be the difference in a 1-0 win.

Alexandria dominated possession the first five minutes of the game but could not convert that into any goals. The Cardinals’ energy was evident through the first half as they won the battle of loose balls and kept the Tigers from getting many quality scoring chances before the half.

“With the score 0-0, the guys knew they couldn’t afford to settle for their first half effort,” head coach David Vinje said. “The second half still needed to be played with the same amount of effort that was given in the first. We talked about continuing to find ways to put pressure on the Tiger defense and making better decisions in the attacking third.”

In the 60th minute, that pressure paid off when Brandon Ludwig gave his team a 1-0 lead. Joe Wymore sent a perfect pass in front of the net on a corner kick when Ludwig went up for the header. He deflected the ball off his body and into the right corner of the net to give his team the advantage.

From there, the Alexandria defense took over. The Tigers put the pressure on the Cardinals in the next 10 minutes, but every opportunity was turned away.

“The Cardinal defense was up to the task,” Vinje said. “Defenders Sam Olson, Eric Maloney, Sam Drummond, Zach VanOrsdel, Chris Johnson and Peter Olson did a great job of turning away any decent opportunity Tech was able to build. Junior keeper Scott Hennen did a great job of controlling his area, while midfielders Joe Wymore, Brandon Ludwig and Sam Johnson tirelessly ran to maintain Tech’s flank players.”

The win moved Alexandria to 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in the CLC.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, home, team, cardinals, boys, soccer, st, cloud, tech