Staff photo by Jeremy Behnke New Ulm’s Mia Johnson brings the ball upfield against Worthington’s Pamela Lomeli Ibarra during Thursday’s Big South Conference girls’ soccer match at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — Despite giving up a late goal in the first half, New Ulm girls’ soccer coach Jonathan Johnson felt his team played well in that span and wasn’t too upset about the goal.

New Ulm got three first-half goals from three different players and rolled to a 5-1 over Worthington in Big South Conference girls’ soccer action at New Ulm High School.

The Eagles got first-half goals from Annika Morschauser, Mia Johnson and Yvonne Spengler to take the early lead. Worthington got a late goal with 4:25 left in the first half, but the Eagles didn’t panic.

“I just told them we needed to keep moving the ball around and to stay spread out because Worthington was playing a lot of ‘chase the ball,'” Johnson said of the first-half effort. “I think it paid off because it was wearing them down during the game and we were moving the ball quite freely.”

Morschauser scored New Ulm’s first goal, but it didn’t come easy. The Trojans did manage to move the ball well at times during the first half and they may have caught the Eagles off-guard.

“They surprised our girls tonight because they came out strong, but they [Worthington] get a little discouraged and they start getting fussy with each other,” Johnson said. “They’ve definitely gotten better, they’ve got a lot a of girls on their roster and a lot of girls to choose from.”

Johnson gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead with 21:11 left in the half and 5 minutes later, Spengler knocked one in the net from in front of the goal on a loose ball to make it 3-0.

New Ulm pitched a shutout in the second half and coach Johnson thought that was important to stop any momentum Worthington may have gained late in the first half.

Mia Johnson scored her second goal about 10 minutes into the half after the Eagles missed out on a couple of chances. Madison Miller put the game out of reach when she scored New Ulm’s fifth goal.

New Ulm controlled the ball most of the game and the Eagles had 22 total shots and eight shots on goal. Ariana Dreyer had one save in the first half for the Eagles and Elizabeth Dake finished with seven saves in the second half.

“That was great to have a second-half shutout, our two goalkeepers are very strong, they have different strengths but they’re very strong,” coach Johnson said.

New Ulm (2-3) hosts Mankato West at 2 p.m. on Saturday.