Bluejays fall to Ashland 5-0 in season opener

The Three Lakes-Phelps varsity girls’ soccer team traveled to Ashland on April 7 to face the Oredockers in the season opener. Despite a 5-0 loss, the Bluejays trailed 1-0 at halftime. 

Head Coach Cole Griesbach said the team would usually have a full roster, but other school obligations left Three Lakes-Phelps short seven players, many of them starters. He said he was overall happy with how the team fought throughout the night, with many players shifting into new positions to fill the gaps. 

“With holiday and school trips, we were missing seven players, and a lot of them being starters and defensive starters at that. It was a little bit of a struggle positionally for players,” he stated. “Even with this, I am really proud of the way the first half of the game went.” 

Three Lakes gave up the lone goal in the first half and had some chances offensively, but wasn’t able to beat Ashland’s Kendra Bigboy-Piehl. 

“We had a few opportunities on offense where we had a shot at goal that I wish we could’ve taken advantage of, but just couldn’t find the net,” explained Griesbach. “Our entire team overall did great, and we were seeing promising things, and for our second time being outside on a full field, we did good.” 

The Bluejays were dealt a few injuries in the second half, leaving them with one sub. Ashland was able to take advantage of a tiring Bluejays team as the second half moved along. 

“It really started to show. Everyone was getting tired, and after a while, the goals started slipping in,” said Griesbach. “We just kind of got worn down.” 

Despite allowing four goals in the final 40 minutes, sophomore goaltender Abby Raddatz made 18 saves in her first game in net this season. 

“One player to note is our sophomore, Abby. She had some amazing plays and saves in goal,” stated Griesbach. 

The Bluejays were supposed to have a game today, Thursday, April 9, in Three Lakes, but that was rescheduled to Friday, April 24. The next scheduled game is at Crandon next Tuesday, April 14, at 5 p.m. The first home game of the season will be next Friday, April 17, at 5 p.m.