Alexandria spoils Detroit Lakes’ home opener with convincing win – Detroit Lakes Tribune

DETROIT LAKES — The sun was shining with a nice breeze as the Detroit Lakes boys soccer team welcomed Alexandria to Rotary Soccer Fields for the Lakers’ home opener on Saturday, Aug. 24.

The Cardinals welcomed the Lakers to the Central Lakes Conference with a dominant 10-1 victory thanks to Alexandria’s Otto Anderson’s six goals scored. Detroit Lakes fell to 0-2 on the early season.

Alexandria scored early and often in the first half. Before the Lakers could blink, they found themselves in a 2-0 hole after Anderson and Sawyer Blair netted the game’s first two goals.

“We’re definitely still finding ourselves as a team,” Detroit Lakes head coach Jessie Olson said. “I thought throughout the first half, especially those first 20 minutes we played well. Everything Alexandria did can be corrected by us. We know what we have to work on, that’s for sure.”

The Cardinals kept their foot on the gas in the first half. Their attack gave the Detroit Lakes’ defenders fits with exceptional passing and ball placement. After a Lakers’ miscue on the ball, Anderson found the back of the net for his second goal to give Alexandria a 3-0 lead 14 minutes into the match.

Anderson didn’t slow down as he scored his third goal less than a minute later after a shot richoeted off Detroit Lakes’ goalkeeper Owen Lipton. The Cardinals built a 4-0 lead before the 20-minute mark in the first half.

“Alexandria figured out how to break our defense down right away,” Olson said. “They saw the passing lanes and executed perfectly to give them some really nice opportunities. We are a young team with not a whole lot of experience but credit to them they are a great team and they showed that today.”

The Lakers scored their lone goal of the match in the 19th minute. Grayson Kohler split the Alexandria defense and rifled the ball into the back of the net.

Detroit Lakes’ defense showed improvement towards the end of the first half. They swarmed to the ball and did their best to keep the Cardinals in front of them. Lipton used his long frame to pick up a couple of nice saves.

The Cardinals would not be held scoreless for long as Anderson received an excellent pass from his teammate and scored Alexandria’s fifth goal of the match. Alexandria scored one more goal before the end of the half to take a 6-1.

Alexandria’s defense didn’t fold in the second half as Detroit Lakes struggled to maintain possession on their half of the field. The Cardinals’ offense picked up where they left off netting four goals in the second half. Anderson scored a pair to complete the double hat trick. Rogan Anderson and Patrick Klecker each scored a goal.

“The score wasn’t what we had hoped for, but it was nice to get some of the younger guys in the game and get some experience,” Olson said. “We are going to work a lot on the movement and flow of the game. They’re still figuring out each other’s play style. It’s tough to be rigid in soccer. There’s a lot of creativity so we need to give the boys space so they can find themselves.”

The Lakers will have some growing pains throughout the season. All teams do, but Olson believes her team will battle through the adversity and continue to work hard. She wants her team to make mistakes because they will become learning opportunities and that will only make the team better in the long run.

“We need to continue to work together and grow together as a team,” Olson said. “We’ve pushed them hard in practice to really challenge themselves and find that maximum threshold and get better each time.”

ALEXANDRIA 10 DETROIT LAKES 1

ALEX-6 4-10

DL-1 0-1

FIRST HALF SCORING – 1, ALEX GOAL, O. Anderson, 2′; 2, ALEX GOAL, Blair, 10′; 3, ALEX GOAL, O. Anderson, 13′; 4, ALEX GOAL, O. Anderson, 14′; 1, DL GOAL, Kohler, 19′; 5, ALEX GOAL, O. Anderson, 27′; 6, ALEX GOAL, Klecker, 36′

SECOND HALF SCORING – 7, ALEX GOAL, O. Anderson, 42′; 8, ALEX GOAL, R. Anderson, 48′; 9, ALEX GOAL, O. Anderson, 56′; 10, ALEX GOAL, Klecker, 73′

Cooper Kanthak is a sports reporter for the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal. Cooper graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in journalism and a minor in digital and social media. He is originally from Pipestone, Minnesota, and has a passion for all things sports. You can reach Cooper at [email protected].