The Albert Lea U-14 boys&8217; soccer team clinched a berth in the state tournament Monday with a 3-1 win over the Dakota Rev in the championship game of the South District Tournament in Burnsville. The state tournament appearance will be the team&8217;s second in the last three years.

The locals started out the district tourney on Sunday with a convincing 3-0 win over Eagan.

Albert Lea dictated the pace of play from the beginning winning nearly every free ball.

Despite the dominance the game remained scoreless until early in the second half when Albert Lea&8217;s Luis Cazares knocked in the first goal of the game. The goal provided a spark for the team, applying even more pressure and frustrating Eagan&8217;s defense and goalkeeper.

Chad Maier scored the second goal shortly after and CesarVictorino tacked on the final goal of the day for Albert Lea. The defense led by Jonathan Koenigs, Logan Tufte, Kyle Larsen and Anthony Tate took over from there. Darian Weigel won what appeared to be every ball in his area and controlled the middle of the field. Goalkeeper Cameron Hove turned all shots away to record the shutout.

In the championship game on Monday, Albert Lea faced the team that eliminated it in last year&8217;s district tournament in the Dakota Rev.

The first half was relatively even with both teams getting few shots on goal. Although Albert Lea had strong midfield play from Luke Cheever, Femando Peralta, Brady Falk and Spencer Overgaard they were unable to set up many close shots. Shortly into the second half Dakota knocked in the first goal of the contest. Albert Lea really turned up the intensity and started to gel offensively.

Julio Ambriz, Aldo Campos and Ryan Broitzman provided pressure but couldn’t quite convert.

Finally, Steven Kreun found the back of the net to tie the game at one.

Albert Lea dominated the rest of the game from that point with Callen Pirsig knocking in the last two goals of the game just minutes later.

Also on the U-14 team but unable to play are Carlton Stripe, Davis Thompson and Israel Chavez.

The U-14 boys&8217; boys&8217; state tournament begins Friday evening versus Coon Rapids.