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For Winona Senior High School’s girls soccer team, this season is off to a winless start that it wouldn’t have hoped for.
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Winona Senior High’s Emily Gilman, right, tries to steal the ball from Rochester John Marshall’s Ashley Luedke on Tuesday during the game at Paul Giel Field in Winona. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
The downward spiral continued Tuesday afternoon as the Winhawks fell to Rochester John Marshall 6-1 in a Big Nine Conference matchup at Paul Giel Field.
JM jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and coasted to the win. The loss dropped WSHS to 0-7-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the Big Nine.
“It’s hard to say,” junior captain Megan Lueck said. “We could sit here and make a thousand excuses, but the point is that we have to go out there, and we have to play soccer.
“We need to do it as a team and that’s something we’re not doing.”
It wasn’t all bad for the Winhawks.
Goalie Kaity Hamann made 15 saves, but it seemed like she never got a break because the Rockets were peppering the net with shots all afternoon.
“I thought Kaity Hamann played really well in goal,” WSHS coach Joan Wickstrom said. “Without her, the score probably would’ve been way worse.
“I give her a lot of credit for what she does, we just can’t let the ball come at her that hard.”
Even in defeat, the Winhawks remain optimistic.
“I think every time we lose, we always take something positive,” Lueck said. “The last eight or so minutes, we were pushing as hard as we could. Not many teams do that. We just have to try and put that into a whole game.”
Wickstrom agreed:
“I can’t say we didn’t play hard,” she said. “We just have to sometimes be more aware of where the ball is.”
After falling behind 5-0, Lueck scored off a free kick in the 75th minute for the lone Winhawk goal.
Megan Marolt and Ashley Luedke each scored twice and Amelia Krolak stopped four shots for the Rockets.
