Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Preston Hoflock (1) leaps to defend a shot attempt during their game against Mankato West on Monday. Marshall fell to Mankato West 3-0.

MARSHALL — The Marshall boys soccer team knew it was going to be a challenging matchup when it faced Mankato West on Monday, with the Scarlets having won their last four games, including two with at least seven goals scored. MHS was able to hang tough with Mankato West in the first half, keeping things scoreless at halftime, but the Scarlets responded with a trio of goals in the second half to earn a 3-0 victory at Mattke Field.

Marshall coach Roberto Esparza said he felt they did a good job of matching Mankato West’s energy in the first half, but they weren’t able to keep up their momentum as the game went on.

“We played well in the first half, but I feel usually the team who scores first will end up winning and they did that,” coach Esparza said. “But I’m happy with our overall performance, especially in the first half.”

Mankato West was aggressive on offense to start, getting a few scoring chances in the opening minutes but weren’t able to capitalize. The two teams kept battling and traded scoring opportunities throughout the remainder of the half, but neither side was able to find the back of the net as the game stayed deadlocked at 0-0 going into halftime.

In the second half, the Scarlets pushed the ball quickly upfield and were rewarded a few minutes into the frame with a goal to go up 1-0. Mankato West wasn’t done there, as it made it 2-0 near the midway mark of the half before later adding a goal with 17:34 left to bring it to the 3-0 final.

Up next

Marshall (6-5) will hit the road, taking on Worthington today at 7 p.m. Going into their next matchup, coach Esparza said he knows it’s going to be another tough matchup against Worthington, who earned a 3-0 victory against them in their first meeting last Monday.

“It will be another tough matchup,” coach Esparza said. “Mankato West was one of the top two teams and now we’ll face the other one, so it’ll be challenging.”