Girls Soccer: Red Wing outshined by Stars

Red Wing girls soccer coach Dusty Beckman continues to look at the positives during the tough times. On the heels of the Wingers’ 4-0 Missota Conference loss to Academy of Holy Angels on Tuesday, Beckman keeps looking at the positives from what his team did on the field.

“We sat down with them on Monday and said, ‘OK, this is what we have to do,’ and I think that showed,” Beckman said. “The goals they go, we can simply clean them up. They just got some good breaks, but I think we played them excellent.”

For much of the first half, Red Wing held firm before the Stars got two quick goals by Vivien Riesgo-Schultz and Megan Nicklay to go up 2-0 at halftime.

Ten minutes into the second half, Nicklay tacked on another goal as Holy Angels went up 3-0.

In the net for the Wingers was freshman goalkeeper Marissa Fitzsimmons, who jumped up to varsity last week after starter Izzy DiNatale suffered a concussion. Facing a near-constant pressure from Holy Angels all game, Beckman continues to see a steady progress out of the youngster.

“Three games she’s been in net and she’s improved a ton already,” Beckman said of Fitzsimmons. “She made some really great saves, and even I was like, ‘Yeah, Marissa.’ She stepped it up tonight, and she’s really stepped up in that role after our varsity starter went down.”

In the 88th minute, the Stars added a garbage-time goal Julia Coulter popping in a goal for the 4-0 advantage. For the third consecutive year, Holy Angels held Red Wing without a goal. The Wingers (3-8, 0-4 Missota) have not scored a goal on the Stars since Sept. 3, 2009.

Despite the loss, Beckman is hoping to continue pulling positives as Red Wing winds down its schedule. The team returns to the field on Thursday for a conference tilt with Northfield.

Tags: girls soccer, red wing, sports, prep