Local Sports

Eagles power past Trojans in opening round

Kral gets first hat trick

NEW ULM ­- After lightning delayed the start of the game and caused another delay late in the first half, the New Ulm Eagles were lightning quick in return to put Tuesday's Section 2AA Girls Soccer Tournament game out of reach.

It took less than 20 minutes to build a 5-0 lead as the No. 2-seeded Eagles routed the seventh-seeded Worthington Trojans 9-1 in a first-round playoff game at New Ulm High School.

The win moves the Eagles on to a second-round home game against third-seeded Mankato West at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Eagles' hot start and early lead Tuesday allowed head coach Jonathan Johnson to get several younger players into the game early and rest many of his starters. Johnson was also announced after the game as the Big South Conference Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.

Senior Jesalyn Skoglund led the early onslaught of offense for the Eagles with three first-half goals, but she wasn't alone in the hat trick department as sophomore Marlena Kral had her first three-goal varsity game.

While Skoglund's goal required a little bit of finesse and getting in good spots in close, Kral's goals were all the result of a powerful leg. Kral scored her first goal in the first half from 35 yards out, while her second and third goals came in the second half from 30 and 25 yards out, respectively.

"I try shooting close up and it just doesn't work for me," Kral said. "Shooting far is just kind of my specialty."

Morgan Zimanski's goal in the sixth minute on an assist by Amelia Hinkle got it going and put the Eagles up 1-0.

Next on the board after Zimanski was Kral, who took a pass from Piper Kapolczynski and booted the ball high and over Worthington goalie Emily Deleon's head from 35 yards out for a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute. Kapolczynski added a goal of her own in the 15th minute on an assist by Grace Barie to give New Ulm a 3-0 lead.

"I'm someone who prefers getting assists over goals," Kapolczynski said. "Obviously getting goals is nice, but I really like to help with the play rather than just finishing it. I really like my position that I play on the field for my team."

After missing the majority of last season due to injury and watching her team fall to Marshall in a first-round playoff game at home, Kapolczynski said she was happy to be back on the pitch this year and playing in Tuesday's dominant playoff win.

"It's just the best to be back," she said. "I love my team, we have such a good coaching staff and I'm really, really glad to be back for my senior year. Last year didn't go how I wanted it to, but it's good to be back and healthy this year and we're ready for [Mankato] West."

Skoglund scored the next two goals unassisted, with her first coming 16 seconds after Kapolczynski's goal when she stole the ball and took it in for the easy put-in. Her second goal came in the 20th minute of play.

After a lightning stoppage with around 11 minutes left in the first half, the Eagles got right back to work when play resumed and got a high crossing pass from Barie to Skoglund, who completed her hat trick in the 34th minute, giving New Ulm a 6-0 lead entering the half.

Deleon made several big saves and ended up with 22 saves in the game, but the Eagles were relentless and got several by her with their constant attack. Skoglund dished a pass off in close to Amelia Hinkle, who scored in the 45th minute. Kral scored her second goal of the game on her 30-yarder off an assist by Barie for an 8-0 lead in the 61st minute. Worthington got in close for the first time all game moments later and Eagles goalie Greta Berger was forced to make a sliding stop near the top of the goal area, but a rebound allowed Camila Piseno to put in the Trojans' lone goal wide open to make it an 8-1 game.

Kral scored from 25 yards out on an assist from Mallory Novak led to the final score in the 67th minute.

"I'm glad that I'm getting these shots off," Kral said.