Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
Merrill’s boys soccer team polished off their regular season on Tuesday night, with a match up against Wisconsin Valley Conference opponent, D.C. Everest. The Jays put up a good fight and managed to score two goals against the Evergreens, however Everest would prevail with a 4-2 win.
“Honestly it was a pretty good game,” said Merrill head coach Will Bialecki. “A lot of back and forth between both teams. We couldn’t capitalize on some of our chances early on, but we kept really good pressure on their back line all night. We gave up a couple goals early on after we missed some shots. It was a game we knew was going to be competitive going into it, and it played out that way”
Everest struck early and often, leaping out to a three goal lead in the first half of action. 12:22 into the game the Evergreens found the back of the net on a shot from Connor Gilmore. Another Everest goal would come just seven minutes later, this time from Tamirat Knutson after a pass from Diego Sanchez. In the 30th minute the Evergreens found the back of the net yet again. Knutson would find teammate John Belton, who put the ball past Merrill keeper, Wyatt Grosskurth.
Merrill finally got themselves on the board in the 40th minute when Reid Hojan found Jordan Brzoznowski on a lead pass, allowing Brzoznowski to shoot and score. Coming out of halftime the Jays would pull closer, with a goal coming in the 50th minute. Cole Woellner passed the ball to Geno Zecca who fired a shot passed the Everest goalie.
In the 71st minute Everest’s Knutson would find the goal again, this time unassisted as he danced his way through the Merrill defense before firing the scoring shot.
“It didn’t feel like a two goal difference in the game,” explained Bialecki. “I felt like we were much more in it all evening than the final score shows. The extra time we had this week to recover, train, and rest really helped us out. After the game against Rapids the week before, we needed a game like Thursday to get us building confidence going into our playoff game Tuesday night in Pulaski. I’m really optimistic about the playoff match up we have. I see Pulaski as a comparable to Marshfield, who we play very well against. With our guys getting healthy and feeling positive, we really have a chance to take a win Tuesday night.”