By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Tigers girls soccer team came through the middle of April playing well, going 2-1 April 16-19.

Marshfield won at Merrill 4-0 on April 16. The Tigers got two goals and one assist from Nina Hashimoto. Sophia Gruenling added one goal and one assist, while Ryenne Zee scored a goal in her first varsity start.

Coach Steve Lindner said Zee came through with strong play and many positive results. “Ryenne really stepped up nicely, and played with the confidence she should have as she has practiced well all year.”

Courtney Meyer had one assist. Makayla Brueggen had three saves and recorded her second shutout of the season.

The Tigers suffered a setback on April 18, losing to D.C. Everest 8-2. According to Coach Lindner, “D.C. Everest once again proved why they are one of the top teams in the WVC (Wisconsin Valley Conference) and area.”

They jumped on Marshfield with a nice goal by Maddie Simpson on a header that started the scoring. From there the Evergreens struck again just under a minute later to grab a 2-0 lead. The Tigers held Everest at bay until the 36th minute where they got goal No. 3 on the day.  In a 10-minute span of the second half, Everest put away any thought of a Tiger comeback with three goals.

Hashimoto put the Tigers on the board with a beautiful direct free kick perfectly placed from about 24 yards out. Then at the 72nd minute Nina made a move to get by a defender and let loose another long range shot that scored for Marshfield. “Nina has really shined in games recently scoring for the Tigers with her sixth and seventh goals in the early season”, Lindner said. “We need to get some scoring from others in top-tier games.”

Lindner added that Nicole Simon and Paige Preston had some nice plays that challenged the Evergreens. He also said Ana Paape played another great game and put up a nice battle with Maddie Simpson, the reigning WVC Player of the Year. “It was fun to watch to first-team all conference players battle.”

The Tigers responded well to the loss with a 5-0 win at Hortonville on April 19. The Tigers came out ready to play, according to Lindner, and had the quick start he was looking for. Nicole Simon scored her first goal of the year less than a minute in and soon thereafter Hashimoto scored at 3:26 to really propel the Tigers.

“We controlled the game Friday and Nicole, Paige Preston, Eva Wahlstrom and Paige Gruenling stepped up and lead the team. When we control the tempo and win most of the 50/50 balls and connect our passes we are a tough team to beat. It was a nice end to a busy week, as we went 2-1 and really put us in position to continue our improvement as we start next week with another three games. We have got some solid play out of the entire team and with a few injuries and illness, the roster and team have all stepped up as we knew they could”, Lindner said after the Hortonville win.

Hashimoto had another nice game, scoring three goals and one assist. Kate Schilling added a goal and Brueggen and Ava Santerme combined on the shutout win in goal. The Tigers outshot Hortonville 27-5. With that win, Marshfield improved its record to 3-4 overall, with a conference mark of 1-2 heading into matches this week with Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau East, and Wausau West.