By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Following a sluggish start, the Marshfield boys soccer team finished the day strong as the Tigers kicked off their season hosting the Marshfield Triangular on Tuesday at Griese Park.
The Tigers tied Lakeland 1-1 in the opener despite allowing just two shots on goal, but turned up the heat in the second game, blowing out Menomonie 6-0 for their first victory of the season.
Junior Nick Guzowski connected on two blasts, each from about 20 yards away, for goals to lead the Tigers’ offense.
Freshman Matt McCann scored his first career goal at the 2:38 mark of the first half and Marshfield faced little resistance the rest of the way. Guzowski scored his first goal just 6 minutes later and Schuyler Seyfert and Spencer Borchardt added goals before halftime to put the Tigers in control.
“With eight new starters out there, it’s going to take awhile to get used to each other,” Marshfield coach Ron Todryk said. “They looked better in the second half (of the first game), we just couldn’t get the ball in (the goal).
“In the second game, they kind of relaxed a little bit more and played. I think everybody was worried about making a mistake in that first game, they were hesitant to try things. When Nick Guzowski got that volley goal (to make it 2-0), you just saw everybody go, ‘Wow, we can do it.’ It kind of lit a fire under everybody.”
Marshfield’s defense was superb. After allowing just the two shots on goal in the opener, the Tigers gave up just three in the win over Menomonie, all of which were saved by junior goalkeeper Erik Holm.
Todryk said he thinks the Tigers’ defense is definitely the team’s strength, and he expects Marshfield to be competitive in every game this season because of it.
Marshfield had just three shots on goal in the second half, but scored on two of them. Guzowski connected on his second long-range shot in the 42nd minute and Al Reeser scored off an assist from Quinn Schuster with just under 12 minutes to go to finish the scoring.
The Tigers are back in action Thursday at Tomah, then opens their Wisconsin Valley Conference season next Tuesday at Wausau West.
Marshfield finished third last season in the WVC with a 6-4-2 record, and Todryk is expecting the Tigers to make a run toward that top-three spot again in 2010.
“I think we’re going to be competitive,” Todryk said. “We have a great group of kids. If they play smart, if they control the ball, we should be competitive. I don’t know how we are going to fare against a Stevens Point, D.C. Everest is returning a lot, Wisconsin Rapids is coming off a season where they didn’t do that well – I’m hoping to sit in the middle of the pack. If we pull it together, maybe a little bit better, it depends what the kids want to put into it.”
Lakeland defeated Menomonie 2-1 in the other match of the triangular.
Tigers 1, Thunderbirds 1
Lakeland 1 0 – 1
Marshfield 1 0 – 1
First half: 1. M, Alex Kelnhofer (Eli Oba assist), 10:55; 2. L, Jordan Eugster (unassisted), 15:12.
Second half: No scoring.
Shots on goal: Lakeland 2; Marshfield 7.
Saves: L, Wren Umlauf 6; M, Erik Holm 1.
Records: Marshfield 0-1-1; Lakeland 1-0-1.
Tigers 6, Indians 0
Menomonie 0 0 – 0
Marshfield 4 2 – 6
First half: 1. Mar, Matt McCann (E. Oba), 2:38; 2. Mar, Nick Guzowski (ua), 8:41; 3. Mar, Schuyler Seyfert (Tony Oba), 24:58; 4. Mar, Spencer Borchardt (Ben Riesterer), 34:34.
Second half: 5. Mar, Borchardt (ua), 41:48; 6. Mar, Al Reeser (Quinn Schuster), 68:17.
Shots on goal: Menomonie 3; Marshfield 13.
Saves: Men, Carl Ohvall 4; Mar, Holm 3.
Record: Marshfield 1-0-1; Menomonie 0-2.