By Nick Beversdorf
Reporter
Bluejay varsity soccer lost 5-0 to Stevens Point this past Thursday, bringing their record to 0-5 in the Valley Conference and 0-8 overall.
It probably comes as no surprise that Merrill lost to the conference titan that is SPASH, but head coach Stephanie Nelson comments that the Bluejays played very well against them, both defensively and offensively.
“Defensively, we really shut them down; yes they still got 32 total shots off, but they force as many shots as they can get,” she says. “So that stat is pretty normal for this game. We actually got a couple corners and a couple shots off ourselves. Gabby Schlegel came up huge and had 11 saves, which may not seem like a lot, but her saves were high quality saves and she also snuffed out a lot of other opportunities that could have developed into something bigger.”
Indeed, holding off SPASH is no small feat for any defense, but the Bluejay kickers even managed to get the ball deep into SPASH territory a few times.
“Overall, I’m pleased with how they played even offensively. We had a lot of really good passing plays that showed that we are doing some things with our program that we couldn’t get in the past. Now hopefully this translates to this weekend when we play three short games so that we can hopefully improve on our 0-8 record.”
Bluejay girls varsity soccer will have an invitational tomorrow, Saturday, at 10 a.m. at the MARC where they will face off against Philips, Pulaski and Spooner.
