The Fergus Falls boys soccer team opened their season with a 7-2 win over Hillcrest Lutheran Academy on Thursday at the Otter Stadium Field.

“What a great start to the season,” stated Fergus Falls Head Coach Steven Ness.  “We had a lot of question marks going into tonight’s game and they were all answered.  It was a good, hard, aggressive game. We went 3-for-3 on penalty kicks, 2 goals came from fee kicks and one from a corner kick.  To be that efficient on set plays was fantastic and set the tone for the evening. We had six different scorers tonight which made us very dangerous and hard to deal with.  It’s exciting to have all player get time on the field, including some of our young guys that had their first varsity game experience.”  

The Otters scored early on a direct free kick by Shane Wahlund, following a handball by Jack Swelstad, at the four minute mark.  At 30 minutes, the Comets tied the score off a corner kick goal by Hakon Hagerup, assisted by Kristian Maestad.  Six minutes later, a Direct Kick was awarded to the otters, due to a handball outside the box by senior Captain keeper, Zajen McArton.  Arafat Abdallah converted the kick for the Otters.  With two seconds remaining in the half, the Otters were awarded a PK for a takedown in the box and capitalized on the opportunity when Matthew Niblock scored. 

Five minutes into the second half, Otters, Sterling Andrews, converted on another PK resulting from a handball in the box.  At 53 minutes, the Otters scored on a corner kick goal, following a low kick that rebounded off of Players in the box.  Jose Rodriquez scored a nice goal for the Otters at 67 minutes off a blast from the 18.  The Comets finally decided to get in on some action at the 67 minute mark when Kristian Maestad scored off a free kick feed from Hakon Hagerup.  Senior Jack Baker scored the final goal of the contest in late minutes when he put in an Otter corner kick ending all scoring with the Otters up 7-2.

"Giving up two PKs, two corner kick goals, and a free kick goal is NOT a good way to start your season.  We have many issues to work out early in our season for us to be competitive this year.  A highpoint of the game was our Central defenders, Jowell Seymour and Senior Captain, Ethan Ness, both breaking up several Otter attacks throughout the game.  I congratulate the Otters on their decisive victory!  I am glad we will have the opportunity to play them again during our season to gauge our improvement," said Head Coach Rod Jensen of Hillcrest.

The Comets travel to St. Johns Prep on Thursday the 29th for their next game, while Fergus Falls plays a road game at Crookston on Saturday at 11:00am.