Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Soccer squad stands strong in 2-0 victory
Marshfield got physical, but Tomah didn’t flinch.
Tomah wasn’t intimidated by Marshfield’s physical play and posted a 2-0 victory over the Tigers in a non-conference high school girls match Tuesday at the Tomah Veterans Administration Hospital.
The match was originally scheduled for Marshfield but was moved due to poor field conditions. Marshfield still had nearly a foot of snow on the ground.
Tomah coach Dale Jonson was proud of his girls for standing strong when bodies began to collide. He said the game was rougher than the Timberwolves’ victory over Baraboo two days earlier
“Yesterday’s match was more of a physical contest,” Jonson said. “I was very proud of our girls for not retaliating and continuing to play.”
The Timberwolves controlled the entire first half and nearly had the lead in the fourth minute after a Marshfield player accidentally kicked off the Tigers’ right goalpost.
Tomah took the lead in the 35th minute. Nikki Reinart let loose with a long range shot that was bobbled by the Marshfield goalkeeper. Jorden James jumped on the rebound and converted a point-blank shot for a 1-0 Tomah lead.
Marshfield generated its only period of sustained pressure in the first minutes of the second half and nearly scored in the 41st minute when the ball got behind Tomah goalkeeper Erin Dechant. However, the defense kicked the ball clear, and it would be another 15 minutes before the Tigers had another good scoring chance.
In the meantime, Tomah’s Kelsey Gnewikow stole the ball from a Marshfield defender in the 48th minute, advanced a few feet toward the goal and uncorked a medium-range shot that gave Tomah a 2-0 lead.
“Kelsey had a great game on the outside,” Jonson said.
Dechant made her toughest save of the contest in the 56th minute after Marshfield executed a nifty give-and-go play. Tomah’s shutout held in the 62nd minute, when Marshfield pushed the ball to within five feet of the Tomah goal before Timberwolves’ defender Brandi Patterman kicked the ball out of danger.
The Timberwolves had plenty of chances to score before the 35th minute, but Jonson said his forwards were too bunched in the near the net.
“Early, it seemed we were real congested in front of their goaltender, but then we did a better job with our spacing and frustrated Marshfield’s ability to cover everyone,” Jonson said.
Tomah’s Mississippi Valley Conference opener is Tuesday at home against La Crosse Aquinas, a Division 3 state tournament team from last year. The site and time are yet to be determined.
“We’ve had a great start,” Jonson said. “We hope to go 3-0, but we know it will be tougher against Aquinas.”
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