By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
DE PERE – Sophie Hubbard scored three goals and Annika Zastrow added two as the De Pere Redbirds defeated the Southwest Trojans 6-2 in a high-scoring girls’ soccer game played May 2 at Cloud Field.
“We came out very strong and I thought our offense really played well in the first 45 minutes,” said Hubbard. “They (Southwest) kept fighting back, and we had to stay focused throughout to get the victory.”
If you showed up a few minutes late to the game, you perhaps missed the opening score.
Just 63 seconds into the contest, Hubbard found Zastrow, who found the back of the net to give De Pere an early 1-0 lead.
The Trojans didn’t panic and seven minutes later they tied the game as Taylor Johnson broke free at the 30-yard mark and ripped a shot past Redbirds’ goalie Dalaney Steger.
“We let two of their better players get unmarked right at the beginning of the game, but I was proud of our fightback to get a goal of our own in the opening 10 minutes,” said Southwest head coach Tyler Thomas.
De Pere’s offense kept up its attack.
Just 12 minutes into the game, they notched a second goal (Hubbard) that was assisted by Hannah Welch.
Each team added a goal late in the first half, and the Redbirds took a 3-2 lead into intermission.
What was supposed to be a defensive battle on paper turned into a shootout in the opening 45 minutes.
Southwest appeared to have tied the game in the 52nd minute after Aubrie Selsmeyer made a beautiful cross to Johnson, but Steger came up huge in net.
“We had a couple of really nice defensive plays to open up the second half,” added Hubbard. “I think it was a huge momentum swing to keep them off the board.”
Then with 23 minutes left in the game, Hubbard went to work again.
Alexis Piette took a corner kick from the northeast part of the field and sent a high dipping shot in front of the Trojans’ net that Hubbard redirected and put past Trojan’s goalie Tori Ellis to give De Pere a 4-2 lead.
“De Pere is a good team, and you can’t give them multiple chances in a half, or they will make you pay,” added Thomas. “I wasn’t happy with the finish, but they showed how explosive they can be down the stretch.”
Two late goals in the 88th and 89th minutes gave the Redbirds a four-goal margin in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
“We have some big games coming up with Notre Dame and Sheboygan North,” Hubbard said about staying in the FRCC race. “We have to keep getting better and leave it all out on the field.”
Box score
Southwest: 2, 0—2
De Pere: 3, 3—6