Photo by Jake Przytarski Marshall’s Ivan Celedon advances the ball upfield during their game against Southwest Minnesota Christian on Thursday. The Tigers defeated the Eagles 1-0.

MARSHALL – A first-half goal by junior Maher Abdaliah proved to be the difference in Thursday’s home matchup against Southwest Minnesota Christian as the Marshall boys soccer team preserved the narrow lead all the way to the final whistle to earn a 1-0 win over the Eagles.

The Tigers had numerous chances to add to their one-goal advantage, including an early second half tally get waved off due to an offsides call.

As a result, Marshall coach Roberto Esparza wants to see his team improve on finishing in their upcoming contests, as well as communicating.

“We still need to work a little bit on finishing,” said Esparza. “Communication is another thing we have to work on. They are doing better, but we still need work on our communication.”

The Marshall offense wasted little time finding ways to generate scoring opportunities early in the first half with their team-speed and precise passes creating multiple chances to break through with the first goal. Tigers leading-scorer Mookae Stee would be the first to nearly find the back of the net, but sent a shot wide.

Just past the midway point of the first half, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead on a hard-strike by Abdaliah for his first goal of the season. The goal would eventually stand as the game-winner for Marshall.

Goalkeeper Carlos Reyes says the emphasis on triangle-passes and shooting outside the box during recent practices proved to be key.

“We focused more on passing in practice and we worked on triangle-passes, shooting outside the box and we talked more,” said Reyes. “We showed up for each other (too), so that was a key.”

Early on in the second half, the Tigers thought they had their second goal of the game but had it waved off on an offsides call. Following the near tally, Marshall proceeded to pour on the pressure with a relentless attack consisting of booming shots from Nicholas Kayser and Abdaliah.

With the clock winding down and the score still 1-0, Kayser nearly found Amin Aden on a cross-pass but the shot went wide. Moments later Eli Salisbury, who had been buzzing all game long with chance after chance, created another scoring opportunity on a well-executed cross-pass to Mazin Abdaliah that went over the net.

With neither team able to add any additional scoring, the game ended in a 1-0 victory for the Tigers.

The win moves Marshall to a record of 4-1-2 on the season. The Tigers will look to earn win No. 5 on Saturday when they travel to Waseca for a 12:15 p.m. start.

Reyes says the team will look to improve on maintaining possession of the ball in their next matchup against the Bluejays.

“(In our) next game (we’ll) focus more on shooting and more possession for sure,” said Reyes.