Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward Elsie Deutz (16) heads the ball at the goal during a prep girls soccer match against Willmar on Saturday in Marshall. Deutz netted a hat trick in Marshall’s 5-2 win. The Tigers were announced as the No. 6 seed in the Section 2AA tournament on Sunday, and will take on No. 3 New Ulm to start the postseason Friday.

MARSHALL — Elsie Deutz netted a hat trick while Maddie Hoefer finished with a brace as the Marshall girls soccer team closed out the regular season with a 5-2 non-conference win over Willmar on Saturday. A day later, Marshall was given the No. 6 seed in the Section 2AA tournament, setting it up against New Ulm in the section quarterfinals tonight at 7 p.m.

“It’ll give us a lot of confidence. Not cockiness, just confidence, that we can go in and know that we can win,” Marshall senior defender Abbey Foley said of picking up a win ahead of the postseason. “We were just ready to work our hardest and win the last game here and finish the season strong.”

Deutz got off to a hot start in the match, scoring each of the day’s first two goals to give Marshall a 2-0 lead at the break.

Willmar answered in the second half, but Deutz quickly came up with another off an assist from Ariana Arevalo. The goal was Deutz’s 22nd of the season. Yet, the Cardinals scored just a minute later to keep Marshall’s lead at 3-2.

While Deutz had the team rolling early, Hoefer was the finisher for Marshall. In addition to assisting the first of Deutz’s three goals, Hoefer also rocketed a shot into the top shelf 14 minutes into the second half to extend Marshall’s lead to 4-2. Leah Wing was credited with an assist on the play.

Overall, Marshall’s defense limited the Cardinals’ offensive opportunities with its consistent defense and strong offensive play.

The Tigers controlled possession for the bulk of the match and largely limited Willmar’s ability to possess the ball for long periods of time in the attacking third, something senior defender Autumn Deutz attributed to the team’s defensive hustle.

“We got to the ball a lot. We beat Willmar to the ball almost every time,” Deutz said.

Eight minutes later, Elsie Deutz dribbled her way down the right sideline before cutting over the middle and tapping the ball laterally as the goaltender charged her way. Hoefer caught up to the ball and tipped in her second goal of the day to clinch the win, giving her 15 goals and 22 points on the season.

Marshall closes out the regular season at 6-8-2, and its 4-2-0 Big South Conference record places it second in the Gold Division behind Fairmont (9-5-3, 6-0-0).

“I’m really excited that we won. We kind of knew Willmar would be a tough team going into this, so I’m just happy that we pulled it together,” Autumn Deutz said.

The Tigers will look to pick up a postseason win on the road against New Ulm (10-4-3) tonight at 7 p.m. New Ulm defeated Marshall 3-0 when the two teams faced off in Marshall on Sept. 11.

“We’ve been getting a lot better the last couple of weeks, so I’m just excited to go to the first section game and see if we can win it,” Autumn Deutz said.