Alexia Garcia’s goal in the final minutes pushed Marshalltown girls soccer to its fourth win in a row, 1-0 victors over Humboldt at Leonard Cole Field on Monday evening.
The goal was assisted by Carroll Gomez Reyes as Garcia ripped a low shot to the opposite corner of the Humboldt goal.
“I was very hesitant, but then I knew I’d have confidence in my shot and get it in there, thanks to Carroll’s beautiful assist,” Garcia said. “We were just figuring things out and making sure we got the ball in the back of the net.”
It was the culmination of a match where the Bobcats (8-4) dominated possession for the majority of the game, but were empty-handed at halftime outside of a couple of barely-missed opportunities for McKenna Coleman.
“We were really rushed,” MHS head coach Stacy Galema said. “They pressured really hard, but I still think we could have had better touches, and a little bit more time on the ball, before we made our passes. … Our spacing wasn’t very good, we were almost in each other’s way more than anything. Second half, we did a much better job of looking for that easy pass instead of trying to force something crazy.”
Humboldt was an unfamiliar opponent to Marshalltown; the Wildcats (5-5) were led in scoring by senior Ava McIntire who had 11 goals and four assists coming into Monday’s game.
“It’s nice to play someone different that we haven’t seen,” Galema said. “They’re gonna keep coming at you, they’re gonna play hard and they had some fast girls that really kept us in check. … It kept us on our toes.”
Garcia had come out of the game just before her goal to get her knee checked out after sliding into the turf to try and redirect a Kenya Gomez Reyes cross that Lilyia Christen eventually got a hold off before a Humboldt save.
“She’s got a lot of energy and she knew that we didn’t want to go to overtime, anything can happen,” Galema said. “She knew that we had to find her opportunities and we found it right back in time.”
Next up for the Bobcats is Senior Night on Tuesday against Des Moines Lincoln.
In addition to celebrating the MHS seniors, the Bobcats will also be looking to avenge a 2-1 loss to the Railsplitters last year.
“We were their Senior Night last year, and I know it’s a game a lot of the girls remember,” Galema said. “We didn’t play very well in the first half and came back with a great second half but couldn’t finish. Hopefully we can come out with a better set right away from the starting whistle tomorrow and play how we know to play instead of having to work our way into it.”
Garcia is one of the seniors who will be part of the group honor on Tuesday.
“In the beginning of the season I was thinking, ‘No way, senior night is so far away,’ and here it is,” Garcia said. “We’re very excited and hoping for another win for the seniors and hopefully we can get a lot of goals.”
