For the Antigo Times

The Lady Robins soccer club was host to a weekend tournament that took place at Listle Field this past Saturday, including the visiting teams of Merrill and Phillips.

Antigo and Merrill took the field first with a start time of 10 a.m. Coming off a devastating 10-0 loss to the Hodags on Thursday, the Robins were focusing on their weaknesses that were brought to light. The Robins were prepared mentally for the game and flew evenly with the Bluejays.

With the Bluejays playing a tight field, the Robins had to come up with a way to get spread out properly. Once that was figured out, the Lady Robins were able to come together with communication that brought numerous shots on goal. With luck not on the Robins’ side, once again, the girls were not able to get the ball to the back of the net. The defensive line held its ground and was able to handle many of the breakaways that Merrill threw at them.

Goalie Annette Olsen had some spectacular saves throughout the game and did not allow Merrill to get past her. With a penalty kick for Merrill in the final minutes of the game the Robins were holding their breath as the kick was taken. Remarkably, Olsen was able to make the save, ultimately saving the game. The final score after the 60-minute game was a 0-0 tie.

Heading into the second game of the tournament, and only playing 10 per side because of an illness for Phillips, the shortage caused some issues that the Robins were not expecting. Not accustomed to playing a man down, the Robins struggled to find the rhythm that they usually play with. Even though midfield was able to get the ball up to the outside wings and shots were taken, the girls could not penetrate the net.

Marissa Hartman, senior captain, had the most shots on goal for the game.

Phillips was able to make their first strike at 10-minute mark, quickly followed by another fast breakaway that led to another goal, making the score a hopeful 2-0 going into the half.

The second half proved to be much more difficult for Antigo. With injury plaguing the Robins, the defense was not able to get a hold on the breakaways that Phillips was able to produce and Olsen was not able to get her usual saves on the dives.

The Robins’ Areonna Schreiber was able to get one ball past Phillips’ goalie but the Loggers came away with four more goals in the second half leaving the Robins with their tail feathers spinning trying to figure out what happened. The final was 6-1 Phillips.

The Lady Robins take on Lakeland in Minocqua on Tuesday at 7:00 and Medford at Listle Field on Thursday at 5:00.