The Minnewaska Area boys soccer team had a tough week last week, scoring two goals during three losses.  The Lakers fell at Little Falls last Tuesday (4-1) and at Melrose, Thursday (4-0) before losing a game at home against Pelican Rapids, Saturday (3-1).

The three losses put the Lakers’ season record at 2-4 heading into this week’s action.  Minnewaska Area is set to host Prinsburg, Tuesday (tomorrow) before playing at St. John’s Prep, Thursday.

The Laker soccer team, which was 6-6-4 last year, graduated five key players.

Little Falls 4, Waska 1

The Lakers took a 1-0 first-half lead on a goal by Lane Curry, but Little Falls came back in the second half with four goals to earn the 4-1 victory last Tuesday night.

“Little Falls was going to be a difficult game for us,” coach David Vinje said.  “We knew that if we didn’t bring the highest intensity it was going to be a tough game, especially considering the windy conditions that evening.”

Curry’s goal came on a free kick in the 15th minute of the first half.  

Marshall Kopp had seven saves for the Lakers, including an excellent save in the 79th minute.

Melrose 4, Minnewaska 0

The Lakers had seven corner kicks on the night, but still couldn’t get a goal past Melrose Area during a  4-0 loss at Melrose, Thursday night.

The last time these two teams played was the final game of the 2023 season for the Lakers during a 1-0, double-overtime loss, meaning Minnewaska Area hasn’t scored a goal against Melrose for a long time.

“There are some games where it feels as though nothing goes your way,” coach Vinje said.  “Tonight, against Melrose was one of those nights.  While the scoreline says 4-0, the Lakers had opportunities to score but just couldn’t find the net.  We had seven corner kicks, but couldn’t create a goal-scoring opportunity from one of them.”

Marshall Kopp saved six shots in net for the Lakers.

Pelican Rap 3, Waska 1

The week ended with a 3-1 home loss to Pelican Rapids, Saturday.  Jackson Holmes scored the first goal of the game early in the first half, but PR would come back to score the final three goals to earn the victory

“A three-game week is a difficult task; even more complicated when all three teams were quality opponents,” coach Vinje said.  “We started brightly; it was absolute one-way traffic for the first 16 minutes as we didn’t allow them to even enter our half of the field.

“Unfortunately, for all the pressure we applied, we only finished with a single chance; a Jackson Holmes’ header off a bouncing throw-in.”

Marshall Kopp stopped eight shots for the Lakers with most of them coming in the second half.

• St. Cloud Cathedral, ranked among the top three in state all season, won the conference title last year with a perfect 8-0 record last fall, followed by Little Falls-LPGE (3-3-2), Minnewaska (2-4-2) and Melrose and St. John’s Prep (both 2-5-1).

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