The Merrill boys soccer team closed out its Valley season with two games in Wausau last week.
The Jays suffered their seventh one-goal loss in a 1-11 WVC schedule when they fell 2-1 at Wausau West last Tuesday. They had beaten the Warriors 1-0 on Sept. 12, and West ended up tied with Wis. Rapids for second in the Valley with a 7-4-1 mark. Marshfield won it outright with a 9-3 record. The Jays took the Tigers to double overtime on Sept. 26.
Merrill also fell 2-0 at fifth-place Wausau East (5-5-2) on Thursday.
West’s Rigo Roman scored in the seventh minute on Tuesday, but David Pophal knotted it up a 1-1 with an unassisted goal in the 10th minute.
Neither team could score again until Jared Kumbera ended it late in the fourth minute of overtime.
Nathan Beyer finished with 8 saves, while West’s Pablo Pintor came up with 5. West out-shot Merrill 21-9 overall and 10-6 on goal.
Head East
Merrill entered Thursday’s game with the handicap of two quality defenders out, and it affected their ability to control the game. Joe Reissmann (ankle) and Dalton Wilding (illness) both missed, causing the Jays to shift center-mid Pophal back into the stopper position, the front end of the diamond defense. Pophal usually runs Merrill’s offense, and his shift showed. Forward Brian Root also left the game early with a possible concussion.
It also didn’t help that the game was called much more tightly than normal, as MHS picked up five fouls in the first six minutes. The fifth was the killer, since minimal contact gave East’s Evan Sorenson a penalty kick, which he converted.
A short while later, MHS coach Chris Behrens decided to give his substitutes early extensive playing time, even pulling Beyer for Keenan Stellingworth, who had never previously played goalkeeper. Stellingworth acquitted himself admirably, only giving up a goal in the 28th minute. A close Zang Chang shot from the side bounced off the crossbar out to 25 yards, where Trevor Holcomb pounced and hit a well-placed hard roller.
Beyer had 4 saves and Stellingworth had 3. Merrill put just one shot on goalie Bryce Taylor.
Seventh-seeded Merrill visited #2 Pulaski on Tuesday in the WIAA regional opener, played too late for this edition. The winner will play again on Thursday.