Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Friday, March 28, 2008
Soccer squad thumps Baraboo in opener
It was late March, it was cold, it was windy, it was a non-conference opponent, and there wasn’t enough time to set up bleachers for the 4:15 p.m. start.
But let there be no mistake -- Tomah High School’s opening girls soccer match Tuesday against Baraboo was very important, and coach Dale Jonson’s team played with a sense of mid-season urgency.
Tomah dominated the first half, and it was more than enough to post a 2-0 victory over Baraboo at the Tomah Veterans Administration Hospital field. The game was moved from E.J. McKean Field, which was too wet to hold a match.
Jonson said the victory will come in handy when seeds are assigned for the Middleton Sectional in May.
“We talked about that before the game,” said Jonson, whose team lost last year at Baraboo, 4-0. “In the last few years, we’ve gotten a lower seed because of this match, so this one was real important to us.”
While the Timberwolves controlled play from the start, they didn’t dent the scoreboard until the 30th minute. That’s when Vanessa Pintarro shoved a forwarding pass to Katie Murphy, who broke loose to the right of Baraboo goaltender Johanna Wagner and booted a medium-range shot for Tomah’s first goal.
Three minutes later, Kelsey Gnewikow weaved her way through the Baraboo defense and fired a centering pass that Pintarro headed in from 10 feet away to put Tomah ahead, 2-0.
Jonson said his team did an excellent job in the first half of not getting knocked around and maintaining possession.
“One of the things we’re trying to improve on this year is maintaining possession of the ball,” Jonson said.
Baraboo played a much more competitive second half, although the Thunderbirds never really forced Tomah goalkeeper Kylie Dietzman to make a tough save. Tomah’s best chance for a second half goal came in the 70th minute, when Jorden James broke free and forced Wagner to dive to her left to make her seventh and final save.
“(Baraboo) adjusted their defense in the second half, which made it more difficult to get deep,” Jonson said. “We got a little impatient at times in the second half and didn’t work the ball downfield.”
Jonson also acknowledged the advantage of outside practices and a pre-season scrimmage. Baraboo had considerably more snow last week.
“We were ready to play,” he said.
Tomah will get an unexpected home game today (Thursday) against Marshfield. The non-conference match was originally scheduled to be played at Marshfield, but wet conditions in Marshfield forced the game’s move to Tomah.
The Mississippi Valley Conference opener is Tuesday at home against La Crosse Aquinas at a field to be determined.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.