STEVENS POINT – Stevens Point scored three times in the first 23 minutes and rolled to a 7-1 win over Marshfield in a Wisconsin Valley Conference boys soccer game Thursday night at the Portage County Youth Soccer Complex.
The loss is Marshfield’s fourth in a row, dropping its record to 6-6-1 overall and 3-3-1 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. Stevens Point remains in title contention in the conference, improving to 4-0-3 in the WVC and 6-5-3 overall.
Ethan Kane scored in the eighth and 10th minutes, and added another early in the second half for the Panthers.
Alex Giles scored Marshfield’s only goal, coming off an assist from Elijah Hubler-Marti one minute after Kane’s second goal to cut Stevens Point’s lead to 2-1, but that would be all the Tigers could muster.
Stevens Point scored on seven of its 11 shots on goal to pull away.
“Disappointing game,” Marshfield coach Steve McCann said. “They came with pressure high up the field and created goals off turnovers and our mistakes. The heavy pressure was hard to deal with – they played fast. We did a lot of good things but nothing that showed up on the score sheet.
“We need to put together a complete game on Thursday to get back on track – start getting some wins again. I thought our three captains – Dawson Tysver, Isaac Wellens and Kevin Cassidy all played really hard right to the end and set the tone with others doing the same. We made too many mistakes, but I was proud of the effort nonetheless.”
Marshfield hosts Wisconsin Rapids at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Griese Park.
Panthers 7, Tigers 1
Marshfield 1 0 – 1
Stevens Point 4 3 – 7
First half: 1. SP, Ethan Kane, 8:00; 2. SP, Kane (Ricky Perez), 10:00; 3. M, Alex Giles (Elijah Hubler-Marti), 11:00; 4. SP, Blake Milkowski (Colton Thielman), 23:00; 5. SP, Perez, 30:00.
Second half: 6. SP, Kane (Hero Vue), 50:00; 7. SP, Perez (Isaac Williams), 54:00; 8. SP, Thielman (Yia Yang), 76:00.
Total shots: Marshfield 10; Stevens Point 18.
Shots on goal: M 7; SP 11.
Corner kicks: M 4; SP 6.
Saves: M, Tommy Olson 4; SP, Spencer Banks 5.
Records: Marshfield 6-6-1, 3-3-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Stevens Point 6-5-3, 4-0-3 WVC.