That something came in the 52nd minute off a putback goal by Grace Barie to break a scoreless tie and get the Eagles on the right track. The Eagles got two more goals after that to earn a 3-0 shutout in a nonconference girls soccer game at New Ulm High School.

Barie’s goal came off a deflected shot by Jesalyn Skoglund.

“First off our passes weren’t connecting [in the first half],” Barie said. “We had opportunities, it’s just the through balls weren’t working. Second half we played with a lot more intensity and we really wanted to win, and our passes also got better.”

Schuette stopped 17 shots in net for the Tigers (1-9-3), while Ellie Dake made eight saves in net for the Eagles (10-3-2). The Eagles had a 7-2 advantage in the first half in shots on goal but really got things going in the second half to pull away against a Tigers team that was looking for an upset.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Yessenia Fernandez (12) kicks the ball away from Hutchinson’s Lavinia Theget (6) during a nonconference girls soccer game against Hutchinson on Monday night at New Ulm High School.

“The effort was there, but our intensity was lacking in the first half,” Eagles head coach Jonathan Johnson said. “We were playing hard, but things just weren’t clicking. After the halftime session, I just let the girls talk and they knew exactly what they needed to do.

“In the second half, the game was two different halves actually in the way they played. They did pick up the intensity and it seemed in the first half they were hesitant to shoot or afraid to use their left foot — or their non-dominant [laughs]. Second half was a different story.”

After Barie’s putback goal, the Eagles didn’t take long to make it a 2-0 game when another deflected shot and second assist by Skoglund was put back in the goal box by Marlena Kral in the 54th minute.

“It was great to get that one goal in and you could just feel the tension went away,” Johnson said.

Allie Nelson added one more to the board with less than 10 seconds to play after a nice through pass and assist by Kral.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Allie Nelson (11) goes after the ball ahead of Hutchinson defender Isabella Berthiaume (14) during a nonconference girls soccer game on Monday night at New Ulm High School.

New Ulm now turns its attention to 6 p.m. Thursday, when it will host Fairmont in the Big South Conference championship game.

“I’m very excited,” Barie said. “We haven’t beat a lot of these teams in a long time and now finally this year, something’s changed. I think we just enjoy playing a little more, so it helps us play better as a team. I’m excited to hopefully win that game.”