Hilltoppers down Bluejacket boys soccer, 6-0

HIBBING—All the Hibbing/Chisholm High School boys soccer team can do is say, ‘What if?’

With Duluth Marshall leading 1-0, the Bluejackets had a chance to tie the game on a penalty kick, but Hilltoppers’ goalkeeper Thomas Falgier made a diving stop to keep the Bluejackets off the board.

Marshall scored its second goal just a few minutes later en route to a 6-0 victory over Hibbing/Chisholm Thursday on Cheever Field in Dr. Ben’s Owen Stadium.

Foster Schulz scored for the Hilltoppers at 19:06, then at 19:44, Marshall committed a foul in the goal box.

The Bluejackets lined up for the penalty kick, which was sent to the lower left side of the net.

Falgier either anticipated or guessed right as to where the kick was going, so he dove to his right and snared the shot in his midsection.

“Our guy put it where he was supposed to,” Hibbing/Chisholm coach Logan Harvey said. “He guessed right, but they have a good all-around team. They have a lot of goal scorers, good defense and that keeper is great.”

At 21:13, Briar Mrozik scored to make it 2-0, and Hibbing/Chisholm had to play from behind again.

“That could have changed the game,” Hibbing/Chisholm coach Logan Harvey said. “In a rebuild mode, we’re kind of used to playing from behind, but it changes a lot of things to have that tying goal, and to not be playing from behind.

“It would help the kids’ mentality. We watched two halves the other day during a film session, and in both halves we were up. In the second half, we scored another goal and that put an end to it. In the next game, we missed a great opportunity to score, and it kind of went downhill. I do think that would have changed the game a lot.”

It got worse when Benson Peterson scored at 31:10 to make it 3-0 at halftime.

“We played a really good first little bit, then the defense started falling on each other,” Harvey said. “We were clumping a little bit. That’s the communication thing we’ve been talking about all season.

“Inexperience shows itself again.”

They Hilltoppers were precise with their passing, which kept the Buejackets running around the pitch.

“They spread us out pretty good,” Harvey said. “It’s tough when you have your wingers back playing defense. That transition isn’t available. Until our defense can hold that line, we have to have our wingers back there.

“We were running hard, but that’s the one thing we do well, run hard. My guys don’t give up, no matter what the score is, we play until the end.”

Harvey did make some adjustments at that half to try to get more offensive production, but Marshall was still able to extend the lead when Ricardo Marcel scored at 53:23, Logan McAuliffe at 74:32 and Schulz at 75:18 for his second tally of the game.

“We switched up our formation a little bit,” Harvey said. “We sent a defensive mid up. At that point, it was 3-0. We had enough possession for me to think that, ‘Let’s get another guy up there and see if it makes a difference.’

“In the end, it didn’t change anything, but I do think we might try that again. The problem is when your wingers are playing back, when we send the ball up to our striker, which he got hurt today, he has to wait for the team to catch up to him. Now, he has someone over there with him. Do we need that extra-defensive mid? Maybe, but we had to risk it at some point. We had to try something different.”

Falgier finished with six saves.

Hibbing/Chisholm goalkeeper Aaron Rolf had nine saves. Louis Skaja finished with six saves.

DM 6 3—6

HC 0 0—0

First Half—1. DM, Foster Schulz, 19:06; 2. DM, Briar Mrozik, 21:13; 3. DM, Benson Peterson, 31:10.

Second Half—4. DM, Ricardo Marcel, 53:23; 5. DM, Logan McAuliffe, 74:32; 6. DM, Schulz, 75:18.

Goalie Saves—Duluth Marshall, Thomas Falgier 5-1—6; Hibbing/Chisholm, Aaron Rolf 7-2—9; Louis Skaja x-6—6.

Volleyball

Chsholm 3,

Hibbing 0

CHISHOLM — The Bluestreaks got nine kills from Ashley Panich en route to the 3-0, 25-16, 25-13, 25-17 victory over the Bluejackets Thursday on Bob McDonald Court in Roels Gymnasium.

Jezirea Flack had seven kills; Zoe Plombon eight kills; Hennessy Temple 27 assists; Auvryana Worlie 12 digs; and Sloen Worlie eight digs.

Grand Rapids 3,

Greenway 1

GRAND RAPIDS — Lainie Barrick had 13 kills and five blocks at the Thunderhawks beat the Raiders 3-1, 25-15, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21 Thursday.

Colby LaPlant had 15 kills, four aces, eight digs and two blocks; Adrienne Venditto 10 kills and 15 digs; and Annika Grose 12 digs and 41 assists.

Greenway was led by Ava Johnson with 13 kills, 16 digs and seven aces; Ari Johnson eight kills and three aces; Chloe Troumbly 13 digs; and Destiny Serfling 19 set assists.