Local Sports

Eagles fall to top-ranked Stars despite improved second half

NEW ULM -- While New Ulm gave up six goals in the first half to undefeated Southwest Christian, the Eagles cleaned up the defense in the second half, holding the Stars scoreless. However, the Eagles were unable to match the scoring as they fell 6-2 in a nonconference girls soccer match on Monday.

Southwest Christian, who is the top-ranked school in Class A by QRF and 11th overall in the state, improves to 13-0-1, while New Ulm drops to 12-2-2.

"Their players are very disciplined," New Ulm head coach Jonathan Johnson said. "They're mindset seems to be totally focused on the task at hand. They're physical, but not over aggressive, and I think they're very well coached."

New Ulm's two goals in the game matches Southwest Christian's season high for goals allowed, as the Stars allowed just seven goals all season coming into the game. Piper Kapolczynski and Morgan Zimanski both scored unassisted for New Ulm, while Greta Berger had 13 saves on the day.

Southwest Christian scored its first goal seven minutes into the game and totaled three in the first 20. Kapolczynski scored her goal after some fancy footwork, hitting a long-range shot over the goalie's head in the 22nd minute to cut the lead to 3-1. But the Stars continued to pile on the shots, scoring three more goals before halftime.

But after a halftime speech, the Eagles were ready to put in more effort for the second half.

"They started believing in themselves," Johnson said. "The first half, I think it was just the opposite. Last year we got annihilated by them [8-0] up at their field. I had a tough talk with them at halftime, and I said, 'Hey, if you don't want to play, there's the bench. There's the gate.' It took that eye-opener, that wake-up call to get them to start believing in themselves."

Zimanski scored the lone goal of the second half in the 68th minute, putting the ball in on a corner kick from the left side. But the Eagles were unable to errase the deficit as the clock wound down to zero.

"They proved in that second half that they can compete with a team like this if they put their mind to it," Johnson said. "I think that's what it took to get them out of that shell. Totally two different halves, and I'm so proud of how they played that second half."

New Ulm now hosts Fairmont in the Big South Conference Girls Soccer Championship on Thursday.