“We knew it was going to be a very aggressive game, being that one of our players from last year is now playing on their team,” added Heikes.  “That player, Fran Rodriguez is also Joses’ brother, so it was a brother against brother rivalry.”

The Cardinals put quite a bit of pressure on the Otters early in the match, however, the Otter defense stood strong, not giving them any quality shots on net. “The shots that were taken Aidan Godwin was able to save,” noted Coach Heikes.  “Midway through the first half, our midfield started to control the ball and the Otters put some offensive pressure on, getting a couple of shots on net.”

At the 37 minute mark, Zane Kollman got shoved off the ball just on the Otters side of the field.  Josiah Vigessa took the free kick and sent it up field to Zierden.  Shane made a move to the middle of the field, beating two defenders before taking a beautiful shot that went bottom right, putting the Otters up, 1-0.

The second half had the Otters playing into the wind which resulted in 8 corner kicks for the Cardinals.  Once again the Otter defense stood tall and cleared them all.  Fergus Falls had 3 very nice scoring opportunities in the second half, but could not quite finish. 

Fergus Falls (4-11) has a 3:00pm non-conference contest in Pelican Rapids on Friday.

The Otter JV team struggled against a much older and experienced team, losing 10-0.