Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall’s (left to right) Amelia MacMurchy, Brynlee Dieken, Katie Gordon and Elsie Deutz come together to celebrate a goal from Deutz in the second half of a non-conference soccer game against Loyola Catholic on Monday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Marshall girls soccer team got its three-game homestand off to a hot start. The Tigers hosted Wings United on Saturday and pulled away early for a 6-0 Big South Conference win, snapping a three-game slide. Marshall’s momentum carried into Monday’s non-conference match against Mankato Loyola, where a trio of second-half goals led to a 3-0 win.

“[The wins] just give us a really positive mindset that we have to carry out this next week,” Marshall defender Katie Gordon said, adding that the Tigers’ busy week includes a lot of teams that she feels are evenly matched with Marshall and can push them to be better. “We can definitely get some good chances there.”

Gordon added that it was fun to see some junior varsity players get some experience at the varsity level in Saturday’s game, as well as for some players to get the opportunity to try out new positions with the match well in hand.

The pair of wins pushes the Tigers to 3-7-0 on the season. Marshall continues its busy week tonight, when it wraps up its homestand against Tri-City United at 7 p.m., and will continue its busy week on the road against Worthington on Thursday. Gordon said that after last year’s 3-3 tie against the TCU Titans, the Tigers have confidence that they can get stronger and come away with the win this time around.

Marshall forward Elsie Deutz said that staying positive and staying hydrated will be key for the Tigers’ continued execution as it works its way through a compact schedule during a hot week, adding that fatigue is expected but that they need to work their way through it.​

Marshall 6,

Wings United 0

Elsie Deutz netted a hat trick in the win. She scored her first in the 29th minute, taking a feed from Gordon on the right wing, taking a shot from inside the box that was deflected, and then collecting the rebound for the second-chance goal and a 2-0 lead.

Deutz continued to heat up in the second half, getting out on a breakaway for a goal less than a minute into the half. Seven minutes later, she was tripped up in the box and was awarded a penalty kick, which she drilled into the left side of the goal to complete the hat trick and give Marshall a 5-0 lead.

The hat trick brought Deutz to a career total of 30 varsity goals, something she credited to her teammates.

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates’ passing and all the communication, and the D keeping the ball in the offensive zone,” Deutz said.

Karlena Smith scored her first varsity goal in the final minutes of the match. The freshman midfielder elevated above the crowd to head a corner kick with some mustard on it into the back of the net, bringing the final score to 6-0.

Marshall’s defense kept Wings United from getting many good looks, though keeper Emma Messebrink stood tall when she needed to and posted her first varsity clean sheet.

“[The defense] was communicating really well, and we have our two defensive mids who were really working all of our defense, so got to give credit to them, and then we just filter it out to the sides and get it back to the middle,” Gordon said. “And having Emma Messebrink in the back, she’s really loud so she’ll tell them where to step so that there were no unmarked girls back there and they didn’t get any chances.”

Maddie Hoefer also finished the game with a brace. In addition to scoring the go-ahead goal early in the first half, she scored again in the final minute before halftime. From 24 yards out, Hoefer launched a rocket off the crossbar that took a vertical bounce to just barely cross the goalline for a 3-0 lead at the break.

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Mankato Loyola 0

Marshall dominated the first half of its game against Mankato Loyola, constantly working the ball into the offensive zone and getting off good looks. Yet, a series of deflections or shots just slightly wide of the net left the game deadlocked in a tie.

It wasn’t until after halftime that the Tigers surged ahead. Once again, Deutz came out of the break and scored nearly instantaneously, beating a defender to a ball on a breakaway and scoring it from 10 yards out for the lead.

“We had a talk at halftime that we needed to step it up and have more energy, and I think that coming out like that really helped,” Deutz said. Gordon added that she felt the team did a better job of playing together after the break and working as a unit.

That teamwork showed later in the half, when Deutz took the ball down the left flank before sending a ground-through ball across the box to Amelia MacMurchy, who finished the play and sent the ball into the back of the net for her first varsity goal.

Messebrink built on her success from Saturday with her second consecutive clean sheet, finishing the night with seven saves to keep Loyola off the board.

Marshall’s defense kept Loyola away from the back of the net for the bulk of the match, but in a 1-0 game with 19 minutes left, Loyola threatened to score the equalizer. The Crusaders worked the ball close to the goal and got off a good look at the net, but Messebrink dove for a deflection to make the save. Loyola got the rebound and was able to fire off another shot, but Autumn Deutz was able to get another deflection before Marshall cleared the ball out of the zone with its lead intact.

“[Autumn] really saved us that goal, that was all Autumn back there,” Gordon said. “She put some gas in her pedals to get in the way of that goal and push it out.”

Hoefer had been on the brink of a goal all night long, getting off a series of good looks but falling just shy. She finally converted with six seconds left, nailing in a screamer to make the score 3-0.