The MHS soccer team kicked up its effort and performance last week, nearly upsetting Wisconsin Rapids on Thursday before settling for a 2-2 overtime tie.
The Jays defeated Kingsford, Mich., 3-1 in Saturday’s Northland Pines double dual, then fell 1-0 to their hosts in the next game.
Merrill pushed Rapids, the current third-place Valley team, to the limit.
“Although the game ended in a tie, we came away with a mental victory,” MHS coach Chris Behrens said. “We have begun to prove to the conference that we are no longer a team to be stepped on, and that we are a team that is here to compete in every game we play. In addition, we received our first Wisconsin Valley Conference point since 2007.”
Kriss Philipp scored an Austin Hass assist in the 5th minute, before Rapids knotted it in the 13th on a David Fickey goal. Just two minutes before halftime, Hass gave Merrill a 2-1 lead that held up for nearly 40 minutes. Austin Schulze deadlocked it at 2-2 in the 75th minute. The tie held up through 20 minutes of overtime.
“The game started off great!,” Behrens said. “We scored early to take the lead, with a great breakaway goal by Kriss Philipp, which was set up well by Austin Hass. It turned into a physical game early as well, with over 30 fouls given by the end of the game.
“Rapids scored to tie it up, however, my players didn’t back down from the challenge. Just before the end of the first half, Austin Hass created another breakaway opportunity to score and put us back in the lead.
“In the second half, Rapids laid the pressure on us, but our defense held strong. Cole Boyd and Daniel Blakeslee prevented many shots from being taken on net. Our energy and attitude was in the right place to win the game. Rapids scored in the final five minutes of regulation on a controversial play that the referees did not observe.
“After losing to DC Everest in overtime already this year, we were not going to lose another tight game in OT. Nathan Beyer had multiple outstanding saves in overtime to keep us in the game. David Pophal and Paul Theorin had a handful of opportunities to win the game, but Rapids was able to keep us out of the net as well.”
Beyer saved 15 shots on goal, while Rapids’ Kevin Banek blocked 4.
Pines double-dual
The Bluejays scored all three goals in the Kingsford game in the first half. Paul Theorin, Philipp and Pophal notched the goals, and Hass set up the second.
“We took an early three goal lead, which allowed us to work on some new tactics that we can use against the conference in games to come,” Behrens said. “The second game was a great game for us to play in, with the only goal coming while experiencing piercing rain. The two games were very competitive, but also allowed us to give playing time to a wider range of players.”
Pines scored in the first half.