The Bobcats were simply in the right place in the right time, and they had Humboldt scrambling to keep up.

The Marshalltown girls’ soccer team forced a pair of own goals by pressuring the Wildcats into their first loss of the season, skunking Humboldt 5-0 on a picture-perfect Friday night at Leonard Cole Field.

Previously one of 10 unbeaten team left in Class 1A, Humboldt (3-1-2) had trouble stopping Marshalltown (5-4-0) on the back end. Even when the Bobcats were unable to connect cleanly, it still worked out well for the home team.

Claire Bonzer broke the ice with her team-leading 14th goal, Keira Halsted scored two second-half goals, and Marshalltown’s offensive persistence led to the rest.

“We found our connections, our consistency as a whole team, and we adjusted just a little bit because they have a couple fast girls,” said MHS first-year head coach Kameron Nehring. “I think the adjustment was probably the best thing I could have ever done. We were quick, we were able to throw people in and out, and my starters played 40 minutes in the first half.”

Bonzer made the first dent on the scoreboard with her 25-yard blast into the back of the net on a free kick with 18 minutes, 7 seconds left before intermission. Just more than a minute later, Gennese Tellez took a hard shot that was saved by Humboldt’s Laina Dettmann, but the attempted clear on the rebound was sent into the net by a Wildcat defender.

Leading comfortably at halftime, Marshalltown kept the pressure on and put away the Wildcats for the most lopsided victory in the third year of the series.

Having won by 1-0 scores each of the last two seasons, the Bobcats poured it on with three goals in the second half. A corner kick by Itzabella Meraz reached the right foot of Bonzer, but all she could do was redirect it to the center of the box. Halsted was in the right place at the right time and hit a slow-roller that snuck inside the far post with 31:42 left to play.

MHS used the momentum again to score another goal just 2:03 later, when a corner kick by Tellez was on target for the goal area. Senior forward Lilyia Christen and Humboldt defender McKinley Mathis both vied for the 50-50 ball, and the resultant bounce beat Dettmann inside the far post.

Christen claimed she got no piece of the ball, but just being in the right place led to the goal just the same.

“It was nice because last year we only beat them by one, so you can see there’s a big improvement from the team,” Christen said. “We have players that are still growing because they’re mostly freshmen and underclassmen, so it’s gonna be a good next four years.”

Halsted hit the lottery again with 7:08 left to play, when an attempted clear by the Humboldt defense came back across the box and found her lunging right foot for a flick over Dettmann and into the net to make it 5-0. Meraz sent a ball into the box that Christen got to but couldn’t control. An unfortunate redirect off the foot of Humboldt freshman defender Kaleigh Vinsand turned into a perfect pass for Halsted.

“I feel like we’re a whole different team right now,” Nehring said. “I feel like we’re playing better even just from the first game against Newton. We’re a different team and it’s really great to see.”

The Bobcats’ next match will be Tuesday at Mason City. The Riverhawks (5-0-0) are ranked 12th in 3A and are Marshalltown’s third rated foe in a span of five contests.

“I do think we have a chance of doing very good against them, especially with our communication and passing and practice,” said Christen. “We’re passing good, talking, really starting to communicate, which has really helped us. I think we’re finally getting back into that groove.”