Fergus Falls took an early lead as Michael DeBrito cashed in just 22 seconds into the contest.  The goal was setup by Ian Richards.  Alexandria pulled even at 3:31 when Tyler Kludt scored from Grant Rebrovich and Zaven Noetzelman.  A goal by Jack Breitzman, assisted by James Schwartz at 6:32 gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.  DeBrito tied the game with a goal at 11:17 of the first period, assisted by Isaac Young.

The Cardinals scored the lone goal of the second period, taking a 3-2 lead when Groholz found the back of the net off an assist from Nick Peterson.

Kludt’s second goal of the game at 9:48 of the third gave the Cardinals a two-goal advantage.  Joe Lamski and Jacob Partington earned assists.  At 10:58 Cole Zierden scored from Isaac Johnson and at 12:46 Isaac Johnson’s power play goal from his brother Andrew Johnson, tied the game at 4-4, setting the stage for the Groholz heroics.

Ben Swanson came up with 20 saves in the Otter net and Alexandria goalie Christopher Loken also stopped 20 shots on goal.

The Otters (0-1) will host River Lakes at 3:00pm Saturday, while Alexandria (1-0) travels to Sartell on Tuesday night.