Laker Girls Soccer Advances After Outlasting St. Cloud Tech

ST. CLOUD, MN (KDLM) –

After two 40-minute halves and two 10-minute overtime sessions, the Detroit Lakes Lakers beat the St. Cloud Tech Tiger 3-1 on penalty kicks to advance to the Section 8AA semifinals. The visiting Lakers were slight underdogs as the #5 seed entering the eight-team playoffs but played strong defensively and relied on exceptional goaltending by goalkeeper Elle Bettcher to advance on Wednesday night.

Bettcher made some crucial saves towards the end of regulation, facing difficult shots and having to make the saves with the wind at the back of her opponents. Altogether the 17 shots she faced in regulation prepared her for the four shots she faced during the shootout. Bettcher made three out of four saves in the shootout to secure the win for her team. Detroit Lakes also had their defensive players take three out of the four shots in the shootout, with defenders Sasha Sekundiak, Kaydence Swiers, and Ivy Geffre scoring the goals to propel the Lakers to the next round.

The #5 seeded Lakers will advance to the next round and take on the top-seeded Alexandria Cardinals on Saturday at 2 pm in Alexandria. Detroit Lakes faced the Cardinals once at the beginning of the season and lost 4-0.

Other Section 8AA Girls Soccer Scores from Wednesday:

#1 Alexandria over #8 Rocori 3-0

#2 East Grand Forks over # 7 St. Cloud Apollo 7-1

#3 Little Falls over #6 Sauk Rapids-Rice 2-1

OTHER LAKER NOTES:

The Boys soccer team is the 6-seed as they open up the 8AA playoffs tonight in St. Cloud as they face #3 St. Cloud Apollo. That match is scheduled to begin at 7:30. Other playoff matches in 8AA include #1 Alexandria vs #8 Little Falls, #2 St. Cloud Tech vs #7 East Grand Forks, and #4 Rocori vs #5 Sauk Rapids-Rice.

The Laker cross country teams will run at Lakeview Golf Course at 4:30 this afternoon at the Mid-State Conference meet against Staples-Motley, Pequot Lakes, Wadena-Deer Creek, Crosby-Ironton, and Park Rapids.