WORTHINGTON -- The Trojan girls' soccer team had to go into overtime to pick up its second victory of the season, beating the New Ulm Eagles 1-0 Thursday afternoon.
The Trojans (2-1), after failing on three penalty kicks against the Fairmont Cardinals Saturday afternoon, converted the free kick in the closing minutes of the second overtime period to earn the victory.
After playing a rather uninspiring game in regulation, the Trojans forced the issue in overtime. As Worthington peppered the New Ulm goal with three minutes left, New Ulm defender Ellie Lindholm was called for a handball violation in the box.
Trojan striker Ina Umfeld got the nod on the free kick. The junior calmly stepped up and struck the ball into the right side of the net to put the Trojans up 1-0. The Eagles tried to mount an attack with the few minutes remaining, but the Trojan defense -- which played a solid game throughout -- thwarted each attempt and the Trojans walked away with the victory.
"We came out very flat today," Worthington head coach Smitty Ektnitphong said following the game. "I challenged the midfield players at halftime to go stronger to the ball, but we were playing on our heels today."
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While the Trojans carried most of the offensive pressure during the match, the midfield struggled to make that final connection with the strikers for a shot attempt. The Eagles, meanwhile, kept things simple and relied on the counter attack to get shots on net.
With 13 minutes remaining in the first half, the Eagles had their best opportunity. Betsy Grams managed to get behind the Trojan defense and hit a hard shot toward the upper right corner of the goal. But an alert Sarah Boever knocked down the attempt to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.
Sarah Boever (three saves) was called upon just a few times during the match as the Worthington defensive four of Karissa Ebbers, Flor Anariba, Nicole Lohr and Gabby Boever quelled each New Ulm attack.
"We were marking very well in the middle today," Ebbers said. "Our midfield did a good job of getting back to help on defense"
At the other end, the Eagles' defense was equally effective, pushing the ball wide to keep Trojan forwards Suze Peters and Katy Russell from getting many quality chances.
"We have a very solid defense," New Ulm head coach Margaret Weiss said. "I'm very impressed with how they have performed so far this season."
New Ulm 0 0 0 -- 0
Worthington 0 0 1 -- 1
