The Moorhead Rovers battled both the wind and a tough opponent at the Pepsi Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon - and ended up falling short.
The Rovers fell to Keliix Intra-Lawson 5-2 in the championship game of the U19 girls division at the Tri-City Scheels and Adidas soccer tournament.
"They used the wind perfectly," Rovers coach Bernard Maucort said.
The wind appeared to come into play early, as shots from both teams floated well past their intended targets.
Both teams struggled to put together a consistent offensive attack early on, but Keliix finally broke through with a goal on a slow rolling shot midway through the first half.
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Another unconventional goal put the Rovers down
2-0 as a shot from well beyond the goal ricocheted off the left post and into the net.
The loss was the first of the season for Moorhead
(7-1), which took first place in a tournament earlier this year.
Even though his team fell short of another tournament title, Maucort was encouraged by its effort.
"It was a physical game," he said. "We played even with them most of the time."
The Rovers would stage a brief rally in the second half. Tia Lopez was hammered on a shot attempt and Taylor Hager made the subsequent penalty kick to cut the deficit to 4-1.
After a couple of near misses by Moorhead, Keliix added another goal to all but ice the win.
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Abby Altenbernd added a late goal for the Rovers.
Maucort likes his team's chances of winning its next tournament - the Schwan Cup tournament in Blaine, Minn.
A few members of the Rovers have committed to continue their soccer careers at the college level.
Lopez has committed to Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D., while Taylor Hager will play at Northern Michigan.
Maucort says that the chemistry on his team has been good, even with a number of players from different high school programs.
"Fun group to coach," he said of his team. "It's been a great atmosphere."
Andrew Gottenborg at (701) 241-5549.
