New Richmond soccer beats Osceola, nearly takes down MBC leader

• Abby Skoyen

Junior defender Abby Skoyen gives the ball a boot on a goal kick during the Tigers’ game against Hayward last Thursday.

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New Richmond’s girls soccer team knocked off one of its main rivals in the Middle Border Conference last week and the Tigers nearly knocked off the MBC leader.

The Tigers scored a 1-0 win over long-time MBC rival Osceola on Tuesday. The Tigers carried the momentum from that win into the opening minutes of Thursday’s game with MBC leader Hayward. The Tigers scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the game against the Hurricanes. Hayward managed to claw back, winning the game in overtime 3-2.

The win over Osceola was the first varsity shutout for Tiger senior goalkeeper Catalina Prada-Hernandez.

Tuesday’s game went back and forth, with both defenses preventing their opponents from getting many good looks at the goal. The Tigers finally broke through with nine minutes remaining in the game.

Osceola had sent a long pass deep into the Tiger end of the field. Junior defender Abby Skoyen tracked down the ball and sent a long lead pass to Tina Montpetit. The Tigers have been working on making quick transitions from defense to offense and it paid off in this instance.

Montpetit dribbled the ball past midfield before sending a lead pass to Kaycie Anderson. Anderson dodged an Osceola defender, leaving her an open run at the goal. The Chieftain keeper came out to challenge Anderson, but Anderson was able to snap a low shot past her, putting the ball just inside the goal post.

The energy from that win showed in the opening minutes of Thursday’s game. Tiger coach Steve Tesar kept reminding the girls to crash the net hard on each shot, because Hayward’s keeper has shown a tendency to not handle the ball cleanly. That produced the Tigers’ first goal, 10:56 into the game.

Montpetit sent a crossing pass toward the goal, which the Hayward keeper leaped to catch. New Richmond’s Taylor Holmquist jumped right with the keeper, causing her to fumble the ball. Marissa Neitzke had also crashed the net and she drilled the ball into the net for her first goal of the season.

The Tigers stayed on the attack. Four minutes later, Anderson sent a cross to the front of the net, where Montpetit used her body to stop the ball. The Hayward keeper tried to make a play on the ball, but Montpetit used her body to shield the keeper away. Montpetit then used a quick shot to put the ball into the net.

Tesar wanted the Tigers to stay on the attack, but the Tiger intensity appeared to drop a notch after the second goal. Hayward took quick advantage, scoring on a long kick that went in just under the crossbar in the 19th minute.

The score remained 2-1 until the 72nd minute. Hayward has 15 seniors on its roster, compared to one for the Tigers. That experience difference began to show under the pressure of the late-game strain. The Tigers made a ball-handling error near their own goal that set up Hayward for an easy shot for the tying goal.

The Tigers outshot Hayward in the overtime, but the Hurricanes scored off their only shot in the extra 10-minute period. Hayward got a strong kick from in the corner and the ball was able to curl into the upper corner of the net for the winning goal.

Tesar said the girls shouldn’t dwell on this loss, but they should recognize the position they put themselves in.

“Taking a 2-0 lead against a team as good as Hayward says something about this team,” Tesar said.

On Monday the Tigers played a non-conference game against Menomonie. The game was scoreless for the first 68 minutes, but Menomonie scored twice 90 seconds apart, to give the Mustangs a 2-0 win.

Tesar said Menomonie was a team similar to Hayward in making quick transitions. Tesar said the Tigers played well in spurts, playing with their best energy after Menomonie scored its goals.

The Tigers get their longest road trip of the season out of the way on Thursday, when they make the trip north to Superior. The Tigers get their second chance to play Somerset next Tuesday, this time playing on the Tigers’ home field.