Trojan sports teams have a busy Tuesday; soccer boys dominate Marshall; tennis team wins
Sep. 29—The Worthington boys soccer team is like an ice cream shop, serving up goals in many flavors.
That's what the Trojans did Tuesday night in a 9-0 victory over Big South Conference foe Marshall. On a beautiful night at Trojan Field, they scored six goals in the first half and three in the second and kept the Tigers completely in check for their 12th win in as many games.
It was a busy day for WHS fall sports teams. While the cross country team ran in Slayton (see separate story), the boys soccer team held court at home. Meanwhile, the girls soccer team played Marshall at Southwest Minnesota State University, the volleyball team played at Luverne and the girls tennis team competed in New Ulm.
Here's a roundup:
Boys soccer
Worthington 9, Marshall 0
WORTHINGTON — Moments after the shutout, Marshall head coach Roberto Esparza was asked what it's like to play this Trojan team.
He was a little slow to answer. What can anyone say?
"It's a good team. A very good team. That's all I can say," he said. "Every player moves. That's what we're trying to do with our team. But ..."
The Trojans moved well throughout Tuesday's match. When they weren't playing keep away from the Tigers in the middle of the pitch, they excited the home crowd by scoring goals in a variety of ways.
Omar Fernandez scored the first of his two goals with 33:03 remaining in the first half on a shot from 25 yards away just above the leaping Marshall goalkeeper. Jonathan Banegas scored the first of his three goals at 26:59 in a mid-range kick aimed sharply into the right corner. Elmer Guzman scored the next two, the first from a nifty forward pass after a string of perfect connecting passes, and the second on an assist from Mir Gossom.
Goals by Cristian Tomas and the second goal from Fernandez finished the first-half point production.
With less than two minutes gone in the second half, senior defender Isaiah Noble put himself in perfect position on a corner kick, heading it sharply into the net for goal No. 7. Later in the half, Menkem Mehri scooted a long forward pass to Banegas, who out-raced the MHS defenders to score the eighth goal. The final goal was scored by Banegas again on a penalty kick.
"As a team, we played well together," said Worthington head coach Juan Flores, whose Trojans defeated Marshall 3-0 earlier in the season. "That's what we talked about before the game — for us to do well we have to play very well together. And that's what we did today."
Marshall 0 0 — 0
Worthington 6 3 — 9
Girls soccer
Marshall 6, Worthington 0
MARSHALL — The Tigers shut out the Trojans, getting two goals by Hannah Gordon and one each by Maddy VanKeulen, Marissa Talamantes, Emma Mernaugh and Grace Gordon.
The Trojans were not at their best, said head coach Emily Ahlquist.
"We struggled big-time tonight. We were not moving to the ball, not anticipating, not pushing up the field," she said.
Marshall scored four times in the first half and added two in the second.
The first meeting this year between the two teams, on Sept. 20, was much closer. Marshall won that one, 1-0.
Worthington 0 0 — 0
Marshall 4 2 — 6
Volleyball
Luverne 3, Worthington 2
LUVERNE — In a tightly-played match, host Luverne edged Worthington 3-2 in a Big South Conference showdown.
It could've gone either way.
Luverne won the first game 25-13, Worthington won the second 25-20, Luverne won the third 26-24, Worthington won the fourth 25-20 and Luverne took the deciding fifth 15-12.
Tarren Spartz had 16 kills, Ellie Weg 12 and Madison Beckmann nine for WHS. Weg also had eight blocks. Brooklyn Scheitel-Taylor made 19 digs and Addison Gerber had 37 set assists.
Scheitel-Taylor was 12-for-12 serving with five points and one ace. Gerber and Kamryn Spartz served for 10 points apiece while Tarren Spartz served for nine and Karissa Maxwell eight.
Worthington is now 9-11 on the season.
Girls tennis
Worthington 5, New Ulm 2
NEW ULM — Just a day before seeding for section tournament competition was to take place, the Trojans earned an important victory against New Ulm. Worthington won three singles matches and two doubles matches:
Singles:
No. 1 — Makiah Otto, New Ulm, def. Marah Darling, Worthington, 7-5 , 6-4.
No. 2 — Ivy Jenson, Worthington, def. Malia Emerson, New Ulm, 6-2 , 6-2.
No. 3 — Kessey Aljets, Worthington, def. Lydia King, New Ulm, 4-6 , 6-6 , 4-7.
No. 4 — Bailey Newman, Worthington, def. Emily Guggisberg, New Ulm, 4-6 , 6-4 , 4-10.
Doubles:
No. 1 — Brooke Nordseth and Taylor Nordseth, Worthington, def. Calyn Glaser and Melanie Merkel, New Ulm, 6-4 , 6-2 .
No. 2 — Katie Wilker and Lana Braun, New Ulm, def. Calah Riley and Madison Shaffer, Worthington, 6-4 , 6-4.
No. 3 — Madison Shaffer and Hannah McNab, Worthington, def. Marissa Todesco and Nevaeh Ubl, New Ulm, 6-1 , 6-3.
