The Bluejay boys soccer team dropped two more Valley games last week by a single goal apiece, then took a trip to Saturday’s Green Bay East Invite and posted a 1-2 record despite losing quality goalie Nathan Beyer in the opener.
Merrill dropped a 1-0 night game at D.C. Everest last Tuesday, then geared up for Thursday’s rematch with Marshfield-the Valley leader-at the MARC
The Tigers had dominated Merrill 5-0 at home back on September 3, but the Jays were determined to prove that was the sole aberration on their schedule.
Their effort backed up their intention. Twice the Jays tied the game after Marshfield grabbed a lead, and they nearly pulled it out in the final minute of regulation when both forward Kriss Philipp and outside midfielder Keenan Stellingworth threw crosses into the middle of the box where center mid David Pophal waited to head them home.
But both balls were a touch too high, and Pophal narrowly missed the first and the second, with just six seconds remaining, skimmed off the top of his head instead of the forehead.
That forced overtime, and neither squad was able to score for the first 10 minutes. Finally, the Tigers’ Nathan Law dribbled left and threw a left-footed shot on a banana trajectory into the upper-right-hand corner of the goal, beyond the reach of a leaping Beyer. Marshfield won 3-2 in the second minute of double overtime.
“We looked forward to game coming in, and felt we underachieved greatly with 0-5 loss in previous meeting,” MHS assistant coach Jon Strande said. “We were extremely pleased with effort put forth throughout the whole game from our players. It was a tough loss in the end, but great battle to get there.”
Marshfield’s Alex Sainterme scored in the 18th minute, but Brian Root converted a Pophal pass with a little more than a minute left in the first 40-minute half for a 1-1 tie.
Matt McCann gave Marshfield another edge in the 54th minute, but Pophal sent a corner kick into the box in the 74th minute, and Logan Brunett put a header on goal. A diving Mathias Holm stopped the score, but was unable to corral it and Michael Baumann kicked it home to knot it up 2-2.
Beyer made 19 saves, including a rare penalty kick stop late in regulation, while Holm had five.
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Both sides battled to no avail in the Everest game until Dusty Sperl scored in the 69th minute.
“It was a tough battle under the lights,” Strande said. “Much like the first game against them this year, it was tough physical play from both sides, evenly matched throughout the game. Unfortunately they got the stroke of luck about halfway through the second half of play with their one goal. Those were two well-played games this year. I’m looking forward to the match-up next year.”
Beyer had 17 saves and Alex Pagel came up with seven.
Green Bay East tourney
The Bluejays took a tough 3-2 loss to their hosts in the first round of Saturday’s event, then rallied with a 1-0 victory over Gibralter. Shawano pulled out a 3-0 victory in the finale.
“We came out strong against Green Bay East in the first game, giving them a run for their money,” Strande said. “Unfortunately, goalkeeper Nate Beyer was injured in the first half of that game and did not return in tournament. This put goalkeeper Ben Medley in a tough spot, coming off an injury himself and playing in his first varsity match-ups.”
Pophal scored both goals in the East game, the first on a free kick from Dan Blakeslee, and the second on a Brunett corner kick.
Kriss Philipp netted the only goal of the Gibraltar game.
“We dominated the second game against Gibraltar,” Strande said. “The score did not reflect control of play. I felt we should have put more in the onion bag. However, we’re always happy with a win.”
Shawano held a 3-0 lead in the middle of the second half, when the game was ended by mutual decision.
“Shawano came hard at new keeper putting in three early,” Strande said. “After talking with the Shawano coach, we decided to end game early after seeing the referee was not up to the challenge of keeping game under control and players safe.”