PROCTOR — Proctor’s Eden Giswold put a free kick deep in the St. Anthony zone Thursday, giving the Rails an early lead, but it wouldn’t last.
The Huskies would end the game scoring five unanswered goals over the final 76 minutes to take a 5-1 win over the Rails in the season opener for both teams.
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
“We came out flat, just like I expected,” coach Amy Masterson said. “It was game one against a very talented team. They passed around us and we were chasing the ball and that made us much more tired and our energy level was pretty gone…We needed to shoot more and we just didn’t get our foot on the ball to shoot. The one time we put it on net, it went in, so that was a positive thing.”
The Rails faced off against St. Anthony — the 2021 Section 4A champion — to start last season with a similar result: a 4-1 win for the Huskies.
The Rails started 5-7-1 last season before winning five of six games in October to win Section 7A and clinch a spot in the state tournament.
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
“I told the girls we can’t come out flat,” Masterson said. “If we start sharp and play our game, making other teams chase us versus chasing them, we’re much more confident and it goes better. It’s just confidence and playing together more. We have a couple of new girls, we lost five good seniors last year, so we’re readjusting positions again, but once we find the perfect spots, I think everything will fall into place.”
Junior Kelsey Tangen was one of the keys to the Rails’ run last season, scoring 12 of her 18 goals over the final seven games of the season.
Tangen and Giswold, also a junior, each had quality opportunities for scores, but missed the net on their shots.
Tangen led the Rails in goals last year by a wide margin, but hopes she can score more consistently throughout the season and, perhaps more importantly, distribute the ball to teammates better.
Jed Carlson / Superior Telegram
“I played a lot more this summer and I definitely worked on my shot, but I also worked on being able to get the ball to other people,” Tangen said. “Scoring is important, yes, but being able to get the ball to someone who has a wide open shot instead of me taking the ball is a much better thing to do.”
Masterson is still moving players around to see where they fit and how it works best. For example, Tangen started Thursday’s game at forward but moved to the midfield position.
“We pretty much have two players who are comfortable at center mid,” Masterson said. “I know (Tangen) is fine with that because she does have a very strong leg — she can put a ball on the net from further out than a lot of girls. I thought maybe if we had more opportunities, then the forwards could go for the rebounds.”
Esko knocked the Rails off 4-0 on Friday. The Rails will go for their first win on Thursday, at home vs. Hermantown.