Maddie Waters made one and created one.
The Brainerd Warriors senior captain scored a goal on a penalty kick and then forced the Alexandria Cardinals' defense into another penalty, which Angela Lacy cleaned up, to hand the Warriors a 2-1 Central Lakes Conference victory Tuesday night at Adamson Field.
"I was pretty confident in (Angela) because I know she can make those pretty well," said Waters. "I could just see it in her face after they got called for the penalty. She said she was going to take it. You just knew that she was confident and made a good shot."
Lacy's goal broke a 1-1 tie with 13 minutes remaining and all but eliminated the momentum the Cardinals built in the second half.
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Warriors 2, Alexandria 1
- Key: Brainerd scored twice on penalty kicks
- Conf: Brd 6-0-1, Alex 2-3-1
- Overall: Brd 7-2-1, Alex 4-5-2
- Next: Brainerd at Sartell 7:30 p.m. Thursday
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The Cardinals came out feisty after the halftime break and tied the game on a free kick. Brainerd keeper Megan Tschida stuffed the initial kick by Alexandria's Emily Korkowski, but Chelsey Swenson was there to kick in the rebound.
"We talked at halftime and told the girls that (Alexandria) is going to play desperate," said Warrior head coach Grant Gmeinder. "For them, this is desperation time. They needed this win to stay in the conference race. I think you saw that from them.
"I thought the first 30 minutes we controlled the game really well. I thought we took it to them, but we haven't suffered through much adversity this season so I think we had to tonight."
Later in the half, Waters found herself in the middle of the field with the ball. The forward went on attack mode and was pushed inside the box. That set up the penalty kick, which Lacy booted into the net.
"That's our Angela," Gmeinder said. "She's that type of kid where not much seems to phase her. When she's in the game, when she's in the moment, she is the most confident kid in the world. She stepped up and hammered it and there was never a doubt."
Waters goal came at 19:42 in the first half again on a penalty kick. She said she looked one way and went the other to fake out Alexandria keeper Emma Ziegler
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"Just because it's between you and the goalie you kind of have to fake them out," said Waters. "They have to basically choose which side they're going to and I kind of look toward one end and go the opposite direction. I don't know. I just try to fake them out.
"I took a lot of penalty shots during summer league so I kind of knew how to fake them out a little bit."
Brainerd outshot Alexandria in both halves for a 14-6 shot advantage. Ziegler left the game with an injury in the 50th minute. Madee Gay entered and saved two shots before allowing the Lacy goal.
Tschida made five saves for Brainerd.
"We've talked about coming out early confidently," said Gmeinder. "This is a really good soccer team. These girls are good at soccer. Just them knowing that and understanding that has come a long way. Our last game against Tech I thought we came out strong. I thought we came out strong again tonight, but we got hit in the mouth a little bit, but we were able to respond."
Alexandria 0 1 - 1
Brainerd 1 1 - 2
First half: Brd-Madeline Waters PK 19:42
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Second half: Alex-Chelsey Swenson (Emily Korkowski) 57:44; Brd-Angela Lacy PK 67:00
Shots on goal: Brd 9 5 - 14, Alex 4 2 - 6
Goalkeepers: Brd-Megan Tschida (5 saves); Alex- Emma Ziegler (9 saves), Madee Gay (3 saves)
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .
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