Eagles come alive to top Titans, end 3-game skid

New Ulm snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Tri-City United Titans on Tuesday night in a Big South Conference girls soccer game at New Ulm High School.

Olivia Enter led the Eagles (6-7, 2-3) with a pair of goals in the win, while Kaelyn Eikanger, Jesalyn Skoglund, Kiyla Kolden and Julia Dewitt each had a goal.

The Titans (2-10-1, 0-5) got their goals from Kinsley Mach and Guadalupe Lopez.

Despite starting the game slow and exchanging shot for shot with TCU, New Ulm started putting it together near the end of the first half and scored both of its first-half goals in the final 15 minutes of the half. The Eagles got on the board first when Skoglund scored unassisted on a long chip shot of nearly 25 yards over the head of TCU goalie Johanna Zasoski in the 28th minute. Kolden skipped in another shot in the 36th minute to put New Ulm 2-0.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
New Ulm Eagles freshman Amelia Hinkle takes the ball down the pitch while trailed by Tri-City United’s Ella Krocak during a nonconference girls soccer game on Tuesday night at New Ulm High School.

New Ulm finished the half outshooting TCU 10-8 in shots on goal but ended up finishing the game with a 26-11 shots-on-goal advantage. The Eagles were also playing without starting midfielder Piper Kapolczynski, who missed the game due to illness.

“The schedule has really taken a toll on the team, along with a few injuries and illness,” New Ulm head coach Jonathan Johnson said. “We started out slow, which was not what I wanted to see, but the second half of the first half, we started picking it up and we started moving it and got a goal and you could just see the fire getting lit. The second half was way better than the first half and they seemed like they were happy to be out there and that’s what it’s all about.”

The Eagles were also playing with Betsy Joyce in net after goalie Chloe Sherrod suffered a wrist injury during a game at Mankato West on Saturday. This caused Johnson to put his other keeper Ellie Dake on defense for Tuesday’s game and shuffle things around.

The Eagles were coming off of a 5-2 loss at Waseca last Thursday, an 8-2 loss at Mankato West on Saturday and a 12-1 loss to Mankato East on Monday, making Tuesday’s win much sweeter.

“Betsy, she doesn’t like playing goalie, but she’ll do it for the team and I love her for it,” Johnson said. “Chloe’s injury happened at Mankato West where she handled a missile and it just bent her hand backwards and she’s got a sprain. So she can obviously play on the field but not field in front of the night.”

The Eagles went up 3-0 in the 45th minute when Dewitt cleaned up a deflected shot from Grace Barie. Moments later in the 51st minute, Enter scored her first goal of the night on an assist from Dewitt to make it 4-0.

The Titans got on the board in the 53rd minute when Mach scored inside the goal area. The Eagles answered that with another goal from Enter on a nice pass from Amelia Hinkle in the 60th minute.

A TCU corner kick from Mach was finished with a header from Lopez to make it 5-2 in the 65th minute before New Ulm finished the scoring in the 78th minute on Eikanger’s goal.

“Olivia got two goals tonight and she’s been our high scorer this year so far and she’s been getting a lot of support,” Johnson said. “Kaelyn has been supporting her like crazy with crosses and what not. … That whole second half we were connecting more than two passes and things like that. It just started gelling together.”

New Ulm is at St. Peter for another conference matchup Thursday night before traveling to Hutchinson for a 3 p.m. nonconference game Saturday.