Photo by Sam Thiel New Ulm goaltender Aaron Dewanz looks back at the ball after a goal by Marshall’s Ariel Ramon Ramos (background) during the first half of their game on Tuesday. Marshall defeated New Ulm 6-0.

MARSHALL — So far this season, the Marshall boys soccer team has been held to low-scoring affairs and ties in two games. The Tigers decided to change all of that Tuesday night as they squared off against the New Ulm Eagles for the second time in a few days.

After allowing a pair of second-half goals to New Ulm that forced the tie on Friday, Marshall coach Roberto Esparza went with a different approach to the team’s formation. The adjustment paid off, as Marshall exploded for four first-half goals before adding two more in the second frame to net its first win of the season with a 6-0 victory over the Eagles at Mattke Field on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

Esparza said during Friday’s game against New Ulm, they did a good job attacking but just couldn’t finish down the stretch, so they felt a change in the formation was necessary.

“When we played against New Ulm on Friday, we played very well the whole game but just couldn’t finish. Here we got an opportunity to finish our plays, so I’m happy with the way we played,” Esparza said. “We tried a different formation here and it worked and we also had an opportunity to put in some new players and they responded.”

The Tigers clicked on all cylinders right from the start, as sharp passes led to multiple shots on goal in the opening minutes. Then with just under 27 minutes left in the first half, Marshall earned an opportunity by drawing a penalty. Ivan Celedon set up for the PK attempt and fired it past the New Ulm goalie to put the Tigers up 1-0. Celedon and Marshall weren’t done there, as the senior midfielder was given another shot from penalty kick range a few minutes later and connected with the back of the net once more, making it 2-0 with 23:03 left in the half.

After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, Marshall continued to attack on the offensive end, this time from the cleat of Ariel Ramon Ramos, who placed the ball into the left bottom corner to push the Tigers’ advantage to 3-0 with 12:38 to go in the frame. Isaac Correa then joined the action with just under four minutes remaining in the half, getting it past the diving save attempt from New Ulm to bring it to 4-0 heading into halftime.

Marshall kept its foot on the gas pedal in the second half, pushing the ball quickly upfield with each possession. The Tigers then earned a corner kick with 27 minutes left and capitalized, as Maher Abdallah scored on a header to make it 5-0. As time continued to wind down, Marshall put on the finishing touches with 13 minutes to go, with Eli Salisbury racing ahead of the pack for a breakaway goal to bring it to the 6-0 final.

Up next

Marshall (1-0-2) will hit the road to face Waseca on Friday at 6:45 p.m. Esparza said they’ll need to make some adjustments to playing on a grass field, but hopes they can continue their momentum from Tuesday against a challenging Bluejays opponent.

“The only difference over there is going to be a grass field, so we have to work with that and see if we can take advantage of that because it’s a big difference playing between the turf and the grass,” Esparza said. “If we keep playing the same way, we can have a similar outcome.”