TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Varsity Girls Soccer Team traveled to Wisconsin Rapids on Tuesday, May 10, to play against Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln and Rapids Girls were on their game pretty much out of the gate, scoring their first goal at 29 seconds in. They went on to score five more in the first half and another four in the second, but on the positive side, Rapids made a total of 24 shots on goal and Merrill’s Anna Bowe was able to save 15 of those, limiting their scoring potential.
“Whenever you give up a goal in the first 30 seconds of a game, it’s usually an indicator of how things are going to go and Wisconsin Rapids was certainly dominant from start to finish,” said Merrill Varsity Girls Soccer Coach Kyle Hahn. “They put a clamp down on our attacking opportunities and had so many athletes that were scoring threats on the night. We were a bit shell shocked for the first 10 minutes or so, but slowly started to figure out ways to keep them out of the goal. After giving up 6 goals in the first half, our girls came out determined to tighten up defensively in the second 40. They played with much more grit and made Rapids work really hard for their three additional goals.”
Box Score:
Merrill 0 @ Wisconsin Rapids 9
Thursday, May 12, took the Lady Jays to the Portage County Soccer Complex where they played against Stevens Point and both teams played a much tighter game. Defensively, Anna Bowe saved 21 of Point’s 22 shots on goal, but one slipped through at the end of the second half to give Stevens Point Area High School (SPASH) the one point they needed to win. Offensively, Merrill made seven shots on goal but SPASH blocked them all.
“Conference points continue to elude us thanks to a (somewhat) controversial PK call in the second half of this game,” Coach Hahn said. “We came out a bit passive in the first half and gave SPASH a bit more time and space on the ball than I would’ve liked.”
“We addressed the need to challenge 50-50 balls more and ramp up our pressing defensively, resulting in more even action in the second half,” he said. “Unfortunately we just weren’t able to capitalize on our attacking opportunities. Anna Bowe had another great game in goal, saving 21 shots on the night. McKenna (Smith), Amelia (Skoviera), Reggie (Lahti), and Telina (Marmorat) all played well defensively, and Morgan (Schmidt) and Alissa (Kracht) did a good job shielding and providing cover for our defenders all night long.”
Box Score:
Merrill 0 @ SPASH 1
On Friday, May 13, Merrill hosted Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln, but still couldn’t make the offensive moves they needed to get a win. Rapids scored four shots on goal in the first half of the game and another two in the second half for a total score of six while Merrill remained scoreless. The Merrill Girls did really work their defense, though. Rapids may have totaled 6 goals, but that was out of 26 shots on goal, 20 of which Merrill saved.
“Considering Rapids thumped us earlier in the week on the road, we were hoping to shore some things up defensively and make life tougher for their attacking players on our turf,” Hahn said. “While losing 6-0 is never the goal, we conceded two less goals in the first half and one less goal in the second half compared with Tuesday – a pretty big ask considering we were missing Amelia (Skoviera) as one of our starting central defenders on the night.”
“McKenna (Smith) and Alissa (Kracht) paired well centrally, and Gracie (Wyma) put in a shift as a holding midfielder when she’s normally higher up the field. Anna (Bowe) also did her part by racking up 20 saves on the night, bringing her total for the week to 56.”
Box Score:
Wisconsin Rapids 6 @ Merrill 0