An early goal gave the Merrill soccer team the lead, however they couldn’t hold on as Wausau West stormed back to take the 3-1 win on Tuesday night.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to replicate our form from a week and day ago at Wausau West,” said Merrill head coach Kyle Hahn, “We looked good early on, pressing West back in their half and running at them from all angles. We were rewarded with a goal just beyond the 10-minute mark. Anika Bartz, playing in her first varsity soccer game, scored off an assist from Ally Tabor.”
After gaining the lead, Merrill would begin to struggle. “For whatever reason, our energy and aggressiveness dissipated from that point on until half time,” adds Hahn, “We gave up a goal around the 18-minute mark and Kaylee Bowe came up huge with a PK save to keep us level going into half. We came out a little better in the second half and held our own, but a couple of missed opportunities saw us give up two goals late in the game.”
Merrill will attempt to forget about this loss and move on coach Hahn explains, “I wouldn’t consider the loss a hammer blow, but I think our girls knew they could’ve gotten more out of that game. The best thing we can do is flush it and move on to prepare for Marshfield on Thursday.”