)Angela Anderson photo) IRON MOUNTAIN’S DAVID Juul (13) battles for control against Kingsford’s Cade Counter during the second half of Monday’s high school soccer game at Commemorative Field in Kingsford.

By MATT “SWEETS” McCARTHY

Sports Writer

KINGSFORD — For the second time in as many meetings, Kingsford and Iron Mountain battled to a 3-3 soccer tie Monday evening at Commemorative Field.

The Mountaineers, getting a pair of tallies from Dylan Wolsker, held leads at 2-0 and 3-1 but were unable to close the door on the Flivvers.

Iron Mountain opened the scoring early when Tyler Bengston, a Norway student, booted a well-placed cross pass towards the net to classmate Wolsker, who headed the ball in for the score at the 5:51 mark.

“We have set plays, where are boys’ passing has gotten very efficient. Bengston’s pass to Wolsker was really excellent, a very exciting way for us to score. Dylan headed it perfectly,” said Iron Mountain head coach Joe Pacheco.

Bengston staked IM to a 2-0 lead at 19:42 of the first half, finding the right corner of the net. The Mountaineers, keeping the ball on the attack side for most of the half, took the advantage into the break.

“These two teams match up very well. It’s been fun to have played one another an extra time this season,” said Kingsford head coach Jeff Gordon. “We have inexperienced players on defense, and were sluggish in the first half. But the kids battled back and our defense got better as the game went on.”

The Flivvers sliced the deficit to one at 6:27 of the second thanks to a tally by Cade Counter. But less tha six minutes later, Wolsker netted his second goal of the game to push the Mountaineer lead back to two at 3-1. Adrian Vicenzi assisted Wolsker’s second tally.

Back and forth action ensued for the next several minutes until Kingsford’s Kobe Gordon scored at the 21:26 mark to make it 3-2 Iron Mountain.

Gordon appeared to tie the game at the 32:23 mark when he kicked the ball towards the net. Iron Mountain’s goalie batted the ball down and attempted to fling it away. The ball was near, or possibly across, the goal line. The head official conferred with the linesman, and they determined that it was not a goal for the Flivvers.

The Flivvers didn’t let the call get them down, as they wound up finding the back of the net less than two minutes later. Gordon buried it into the left corner to knot the score 3-3.

“It was a great game,” said Pacheco. “It was a great senior night for both teams, and the crowd was really into the game. It shows that soccer is alive and well in our area.”

Iron Mountain remains home and faces Marquette tonight. Marquette then makes a second trip to Commemorative Field this week on Thursday, when the Flivvers next return to action.

NOTES: Kim Harder-Webb sang a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner prior to the game…Both teams celebrated Senior Night at halftime…Iron Mountain was the home team for the latest edition of the Twin City Rivalry.