TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
On Saturday, April 23, the Merrill Girls Varsity Soccer Team traveled to Rhinelander where the Hodag girls were on the offense. The Lady Jays held them off until almost 10 minutes into the first half, and they made them work hard, but the Hodags had the edge in this game. Rhinelander scored four goals in the first half and three in the second. Merrill’s Anne Bowe made 13 saves, but Rhinelander succeeded in getting seven balls through. Merrill had two shots on goal, but Rhinelander blocked them both.
“A tough way to end the week and certainly not the result we were looking for,” said Girls Varsity Soccer Head Coach Kyle Hahn. “Rhinelander has a solid team, and we were missing a handful of girls again, leaving us with little bench depth for support. We played and defended well in stretches, but giving up 5 of 7 goals in the last 10 minutes of each half seems to indicate tired legs and minds. We’ve a few extra days before we head back into conference play against Wausau East, and I’m hoping some extra rest and prep work does us good.”
Box Score:
Merrill 0 @ Rhinelander 7
A home game on Thursday, April 21, brought DC Everest to Merrill where the Bluejays were definitely on the defense. Everest scored 6 goals in the first half and 3 in the second, took a total of 17 shots on goal including 6 corner kicks, and landed 9 of those. Bowe blocked eight. Meanwhile, Merrill got one corner kick but didn’t have any shots on goal.
“This was always going to be a tough game,” Hahn said. “DC Everest is a perennial conference powerhouse for girls soccer, and they certainly showed what they’re capable of. Pair that with missing four starters for a variety of reasons, and we were up against it.”
“I give our girls a lot of credit for battling throughout and finding ways to be successful on the night even if the scoreboard indicated otherwise,” Hahn said. Reggie Lahti has been real solid for us at left back this season and did a great job containing dynamic players all night long.”
Box Score:
Merrill 0, DC Everest 9
Tuesday April 19, Merrill hosted the SPASH Girls Soccer Team in a game that saw both teams battling hard. SPASH landed two goals in the first half, one at 5:14 and the other at 19:22, but they took 14 shots on goal during this game, and Bowe blocked 12 of those.
Merrill took two shots on goal but SPASH blocked them both.
“Apart from two unlucky goals scored by SPASH in the first half, this was a very even contest,” Hahn said. “Their first goal five minutes in certainly surprised us and seemed to take the wind out of our sails a bit. After their second goal came short of the 20-minute mark, I could sense frustration building within our group.”
“We made some adjustments at halftime and seemed to have more grit and resolve throughout the second half,” he said. “We came close to getting on the board a couple of times and it always seemed like we could get back in the game at any point. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net. Tremendous credit to our girls though for continuing to push hard through the final whistle, though.”
Box Score:
Merrill 0 @ SPASH 2