The Marshalltown girls’ soccer team was unable to extend its winning streak to six games after a 3-2 loss to Ames in Monday’s Iowa Alliance Conference clash at Marshalltown Community College.

Having been tied at 2-all with the Little Cyclones (7-6, 3-1) for more than seven minutes was as much if not more than the Bobcats could have hoped for when they fell behind 2-0. Yet second-half goals by McKenna Coleman and Alexia Garcia gave Marshalltown (9-6, 1-2) more than just hope.

“Anytime you’re close like that you’re thinking ‘why not us?'” said MHS head coach Stacy Galema. “But I think at the end of the day they’re one of the tougher teams that we play on our schedule. It’s unfortunate to lose on a PK (penalty kick), but anytime you’re close with Ames it’s a good thing. It’s been a long time.”

The Bobcats haven’t beaten Ames since 2008, in fact, when Marshalltown’s road to a state tournament berth included a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Little Cyclones in the regional semifinals. Ames has won 15 straight since.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown senior midfielder Carroll Gomez-Reyes (3) makes a sliding tackle against Isabella Corrieri (21) of Ames during Monday’s soccer match at Marshalltown Community College.

For 7 minutes, 20 seconds in the second half, the Bobcats were on the cusp of something different.

With the wind at its back, Ames scored the game’s first goal at the 15:05 mark. Haley Prakashan took a pass from Greta Goodman and flipped it over the outstretched arms of MHS goalkeeper Esme Chavez Gomez, who got caught just a bit too far off her line.

The Bobcats nearly had the answer one minute later, as Garcia got a strong shot into the wind that sailed into the crossbar and bounced out.

Despite Ames getting 18 shots off and 11 of them on net, the Bobcats were within one goal at the intermission. The Little Cyclones struck first in the second half, too, when Selah Helgeson dribbled across the top of the box and bounced a curling right-footer beyond Chavez Gomez’s reach inside the near post.

Down 2-0 to a team that had outscored them 53-3 over the previous decade, the Bobcats didn’t wilt. Marshalltown managed to connect enough passes to get a 1-on-1 opportunity for Coleman, who collected a lead pass from Carroll Gomez-Reyes and beat Ames goalkeeper Elizabeth Lehmkuhl to cut the margin in half with 22:53 remaining.

On their heels for much of the contest, the Bobcats were suddenly rejuvenated. Eight minutes later, MHS landed another big punch. Millie Heitmann won a 50-50 ball near midfield and flicked a through-ball for Garcia, who fought off a pair of Ames defenders for a right-footed rocket that beat Lehmkuhl inside the far post again.

With less than eight minutes remaining, Ames was awarded a penalty kick for a foul in the goal area, and Makenna Springer made it count with a shot to the upper 90.

Ames outshot the Bobcats 28-7 with Chavez Gomez making 13 saves and Lehmkuhl getting three stops.

“We went into the game trying our hardest but we knew what to expect, and then we completely exceeded our expectations and stuck with them for a majority of the game,” said MHS senior defender Sara Huffman. “We did a lot better at making quality shots on our few possessions we had toward the goal so I’m really proud of us being able to execute our goals and get our shots off, especially against a team like this when they have a pretty good defense.”

The Bobcats go on the road for the rest of the week, visiting Ottumwa on Tuesday night and Waterloo Columbus on Friday. Marshalltown’s regular-season finale is a makeup game against Des Moines Lincoln on May 13 at Leonard Cole Field.