TR photo of Ross Thede – Marshalltown Senior Gissel Hernandez Ibarra (5) directs interference for the second year goalkeeper Sophia Valdez Chavez, who secures the ball as Salanje Sarama from the north monks (24). Valdez Chavez achieved five stops in the 1-0 Bobcats victory.
TR photo of Ross Thede – Marshalltown Junior Defender Jorja Janssen (12) Dribble through Salanje Sarama of Monks North (24) during the first half of the Tuesday football match in Leonard Cole Field.
It took a rare early goal and a third consecutive laundering, but the Marshalltown women's football team has always won its first sequence of three-game victories of the season with the 1-0 of Tuesday victory against North monks to Leonard Cole Field.
McKenna Coleman scored his 14th goal at the top of the season team less than eight minutes after the shock of the Iowa Alliance conference on Tuesday, and that turned out to be enough for the bobcats (9-3-2). The second year goalkeeper Sophia Valdez Chavez only needed five stops to keep a white sheet and Marshalltown was carried out with his third laundry victory.
The bobcats are undefeated (5-0-2) in their last seven games.
“We are generally a rating team in the second half, so it was nice to get it early so that we can settle down and play how we have to play instead of pressing,” said MHS head coach Stacy Galema. “I think that for the most part, they did a good job to recognize where our opportunities were and where they were not.”
Marshalltown scored 22 goals in the first half and 24 second half counts this season, leaning on the second half scores to reach 1-0-2 last week with five of the six goals arriving after the intermission.
Coleman’s goal at brand 7:41 was not one for the high -top of the update, but it was that all that the bobcats would need against a team of north monks with only nine goals in 12 games this spring.
The polar bears (4-8-0) could not erase their defensive zone before Claire Bonser did a flight and did not slip the right key line for her compatriot Itzabella Meraz. Her pass in the surface was redirected by Stefani Gutierrez, and Lilyia Christen dribbled towards her just before pivoting to find Coleman discovery at the top of the goal area.
Coleman's right basket 18 meters away failed along the lawn and under the diving attempt to the North Brisa Medina-Vega goalkeeper for the goal of the bobcats.
“I think that for the most part, we played calmer with the ball, we did not panic and that we just installed it,” said Galema. “Especially in the last week of play Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday – so we have tired legs – we talked a lot to control the pace ourselves. We have to know when playing quickly, when playing slowly. It's not just gone, come on.
The patience of Marshalltown in this particular case has borne fruit, although there are no more score dividends the rest of the match. MHS surpassed the Bears Polar 17-6, obtaining eight shots on goal, but Coleman's kick was the only one to go beyond the Medina-Vega goalkeeper or the Juliana Montalvo reserve.
Montalvo was called during the last 49 seconds of the first half after Medina-Vega was whistled for a yellow card after playing the ball with his hands just beyond the box. The direct kick of Bonser was on the target, but Montalvo stopped on the sole blow that she faced in her short time in net.
Marshalltown checked possession in the second half, surpassing the north 10-1 after the break, but the four shots on goal by the bobcats seemed to be directly in Medina-Vega. She finished with six stops, but the polar bears took place aimlessly for the sixth time this season.
“They have players who are quite fast and they are also a fairly physical team, so having this understanding of” you are going to have a little of both “and we played it,” said Galema. “We equaled where we had as far as the players who were a little faster and we also associated ourselves well with physical players, and we did not back down and we let them have their space.”
The final result scored the fourth victory of a marshalltown loot over North monks. The previous three were all 3-2 victories.
“Lisa (Greefe) has done an excellent job with their program,” Galema said about the Chief of Polar Bears. “They have traveled a long way in building their program and having pretty qualified girls with the ball. It's good to see, it's good for our conference, and it's good for football.”
The bobcats take place on the road for their next two games, starting with Friday's trip to East monks for a force test at 7:30 p.m. at Williams Stadium.
