Photo by Samantha Davis. Marshall eighth grade defender Emma DeGroot attacks the ball against St. Peter at home Thursday night. The Tigers fell short 3-0.

MARSHALL — In an effort to get their first win of the season, the Marshall Tigers girls soccer team fell short 3-0 to St. Peter on Thursday night. 

The Tigers stood strong defensively for a majority of the match and limited St. Peter’s goal attempts, however, left a few pockets open for the Saints to score early on. 

“This was one of the better teams that we’ve played so far,” head coach Matthew Versaevel said. “Then towards the end, we started to make more passes and press the ball a little bit better. So, we pressed some shots on frame, and that looked better towards the end.” 

Despite a handful of saves by Marshall goalie Tristynn Justesen, who is a seventh grader, the Saints were able to score two goals in the ninth and 19th minute. 

Marshall had a few good looks at the net, but shots fell short. St. Peter continued to get the ball back. Throughout the night, eighth grader Avery Anderson continued to make defensive stops and force turnovers in an attempt to slow the Saints’ momentum. 

“She’s solid, she’s good back there,” Versaevel said. “She’s great, has good speed, and confidence.” 

As St. Peter was closing in the attacking third again with under eight minutes to go in the first, Justesen was able to catch a high shot attempt going for the top left post, and another hard shot from the middle with five to go. 

“Every game, she keeps getting better,” Versaevel said. “We keep working on little things to slowly try to make improvements.” 

There was one more shot attempt on Justesen and two corner kicks to follow, but were unsuccessful and the first half ended at a 2-0 score, forcing Marshall into a position needing to respond aggressively and cut the deficit quickly in the second half. 

Marshall was playing with a new rotation, as senior defender Braelyn Wing was out with an injury. 

“We are trying out a new formation, so we’ve been trying to figure that out … We’re in new positions, new people,” Versaevel said. “With that, they did very well …They’re playing really well together. Just had to kind of figure each other out.”

St. Peter took the ball back into their control to start the last half, and scored at the seven minute mark. 

With a fast breakthrough down the field by freshman forward Elsie Deutz, the ball was poked away by St. Peter as they returned back to their side. Deutz, who scored both of Marshall’s goals against Waseca Tuesday night, continued to be an open look, often getting passes from sophomore forward Abigail Wing and eighth grade midfielder Madelyn Hoefer. 

Justesen had a diving save at a shot attempt to the lower right post of the net at the 20th minute, and Deutz was then able to rush down, but the Saints’ goalie met the ball up front to stop a goal possibility.

Hoefer also got a good look running down the left side of the field shortly after, but St. Peter’s goalie caught the ball once more. 

Deutz again got close to scoring at the top of the 32nd minute, with a move kicking the ball in between the legs of a Saints defender, but their goalie reached out to stop the ball before her final kick into the net. 

Justesen continued to guard the net and Marshall was able to keep St. Peter scoreless the rest of the night, but were unable to combat the deficit, ending the match at 3-0. 

The Tigers are a young team this year, with five eighth graders and two seventh graders. There are six seniors, who are working with their team to get up to varsity speed and quickly gain experience. 

“There’s a lot of ‘new,'” Versaevel said. “They’re doing well, the seniors and the captains, they’re doing an awesome job.”  

Despite marking an 0-3 start to the season, Marshall will continue looking forward and have confidence in their ability to grow. They will next play at Worthington High School on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. 

“Biggest thing is just working together, stringing passes, coming out strong, [having] lots of confidence,” Versaevel said. “Next game, just take what happened here and learn from it.”