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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield girls soccer team completed its third season sweep of a Wisconsin Valley Conference opponent, whipping Merrill 3-0 on Thursday at Griese Park.
Darian Molter scored twice and Alyssa Brenner added a goal off a corner kick as the Tigers won their third straight game to improve to 6-3 in the Wisconsin Valley and 7-4 overall.
Marshfield pelted Merrill goalie Breigha Bienfang-Johnas with eight shots early before Molter, the Wisconsin Valley Conference’s leading scorer, found the back of the net at the 23:35 mark to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Later in the half Brenner scored as her corner kick bounced off the hands of Bienfang-Johnas, putting Marshfield up 2-0.
“My goal is to get it into the box so that the forwards or the midfielder can get a good shot off of it or get it off the bounce,” Brenner said. “Getting it anywhere in the 18 (foot box), is gold for a goal.
“We need to get going on our scoring a little bit. I feel that we should get more goals with the scoring opportunities that we have. We’ve been working on it more in the practice and once we get on a roll, we’ll take care of that part of our game.”
Molter added her 10th goal of the conference season at the 67:37 mark for the final tally. Aislinn Koehler assisted on the score.
Marshfield outshot Merrill 36-7. Kassi Todryk had two saves in the first half and Naomi Crump had two in the second half for the Tigers. Both of Crump’s saves came in a 20-second span with just less than 3½ minutes left as the Tigers dominated the ball in the second 40 minutes.
“We’re really stressing passing, one-touches, control and turning upfield, working as a team and not as individuals,” Marshfield coach Steve Lindner said. “We’re trying to get everyone to participate, pass and move into space. It’s starting to click a lot more and their starting to play more as a group.”
Marshfield plays a nonconference game Friday at Medford and will take part in the Waupaca Tournament on Saturday before returning to WVC action, facing the top three teams in the conference standings over the final two weeks of the schedule.
The Tigers hosts first-place D.C. Everest on Tuesday, Stevens Point on May 24 and Wisconsin Rapids on May 26. All three opponents beat Marshfield earlier in the season – Point and Rapids by identical 2-1 scores.
“We didn’t have a full team against Point (the first time) and we only lost 2-1, so I think that will be a better matchup for us,” Brenner said. “We played them close, we played Rapids close, they were one-point games. We will have some vengeance going into those games next time.”
Tigers 3, Bluejays 0
Merrill 0 0 – 0
Marshfield 2 1 – 3
First half: 1. MAR, Darian Molter (unassisted), 23:35; 2. MAR, Alyssa Brenner (corner kick), 35:57.
Second half: 3. MAR, Molter (Aislinn Koehler), 67:37.
Shots: Marshfield 37, Merrill 6. Saves: MAR, Kassi Todryk 2; Naomi Crump 2. MER, Breigha Bienfang-Johnas 20.
Records: Merrill 0-11-1, 0-8 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Marshfield 7-4, 6-3 WVC.