A big night by Kyle Supiran and a lot of hard work gave the Alpena boys soccer team a much-needed victory.

Supiran scored two goals and the Wildcats got back to the .500 mark on Monday after a 4-0 victory over Sault Ste. Marie at Wildcat Stadium.

Supiran buried a penalty kick in the first half to help give the Wildcats (2-2-1) a 2-0 halftime lead and then scored again with 31:18 left in the game with an assist from Evan LeTourneau.

“He seemed energized, he was really I think present all over the field on both ends of the ball and obviously he capitalized on the penalty kick,” Alpena coach Tim Storch said. “It was nice to see Frank (Hnup) get the goal too.”

Hnup and LeTourneau added single tallies for the Wildcats, who outshot the Blue Devils 15-1 for the game and controlled the action for most of the game. The win also provided a good start to a busy week for the Wildcats as they’ll play Traverse City Central today and Gaylord on Thursday.

“I think it was a workman-like performance. It wasn’t a work of art by any stretch of the imagination,” Storch said. “We had our moments where we looked pretty good and creative, but it was kind of what I expected from a Monday game.”

Alpena struck first with 18:46 left in the first half after LeTourneau was tripped in the box and the Wildcats were awarded a penalty kick. Supiran buried the chance past Sault’s keeper.

LeTourneau scored with 15:10 left on a header after a cross from his brother Alec LeTourneau.

Alpena came out on fire to start the second half and found the back of the net again with 29:37 left when Supiran scored with a high kick. His second goal came only a few minutes after a scoring chance from Evan LeTourneau came up just short.

The Wildcats scored again as Hnup buried a chance with 20:57 left after missing several chances with high shots earlier in the game.

Supiran had several chances to complete a hat trick, but couldn’t find the back of the net again. With 24 minutes left, he sent a bullet at Sault’s keeper and missed and less than two minutes later he barely missed on a deflection.

Alpena’s regular keeper Levi Goebel wasn’t tested much and Sault’s best scoring chance came on a shot that went wide left with less than 20 minutes to play with Lawson Lebean in net. Haydn Goebel also saw some time in net.

“It was a good lead-in (tonight) because obviously we’re playing a competitive game, but it gives us a chance to get some of our starters out a little bit early, so we don’t have any heavy legs,” Storch said.

Alpena hosts Central at 6 p.m. tonight.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.