AMES — The Marshalltown girls’ soccer team suffered a narrow defeat in Friday’s Iowa Alliance Conference North Division opener, falling 2-1 to Class 3A No. 15 Ames.
The Bobcats (4-3-0, 0-1-0) fell behind 2-0 after goals by Allie Goodman and Kate Badding for the Little Cyclones in the first 24 minutes.
Marshalltown cut the deficit in half at the 33-minute mark on a goal for Lilyia Christen, assisted by Yuri Ramirez, but that was the only tally the Bobcats would get.
Ames outshot MHS 13-4, getting seven shots on net. Sophie Valdez Chavez came away with five saves for the Bobcats.
“Ames valued the ball from the starting whistle,” said MHS head coach Stacy Galema. “They were able to connect and keep us on the run defensively. We were able to limit their quality shots, but we got caught chasing in the middle third, which resulted in limited opportunities to build up our attack.
“Keeping them scoreless in the second half was a great accomplishment.”
Carly Selsby and Nadia Kobayashi contributed assists for the Little Cyclones (4-2-1), who improved to 3-0-0 in Alliance North play.
Marshalltown returns to the field on Thursday with a 7 p.m. home game against Waterloo West.