Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman Kali Aldrich (2) fights for possession with Marshalltown junior defender Aubrie Tejada (11) during the first half of Monday’s soccer match at Leonard Cole Field. Aldrich had two goals and one assist as the Rebels handed the host Bobcats their first loss of the season, 6-1. PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

MARSHALLTOWN-Their scrimmage two weeks ago seems like a distant memory.

The Marshalltown girls’ soccer team suffered its first defeat of the season, falling 6-1 to Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck in Monday’s rematch of a preseason friendly on the very same pitch.

When GC/G-R visited Leonard Cole Field two weeks earlier, Marshalltown emerged on the better end of a 3-0 decision. Five minutes into Monday’s regular-season contest, the outcome was destined to be different.

Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman Kali Aldrich scored twice in the first 5 minutes, 4 seconds, and the Rebels (1-0) rolled to victory in their debut.

“I would say comparing the scrimmage to what we just did, we just seemed more comfortable on the field,” said GC/G-R head coach Aaron Mara. “We’ve been able to do more full field during practice.

Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck junior Jada Blohm (4) dribbles ahead of Marshalltown defenders Irais Buenrostro (4) and Jorja Janssen (13) during the second half of Monday’s match. PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

“I think some of the underclassmen are now starting to feel more comfortable within the system that we’re trying to run and it helps that some of the underclassmen have actually played club with some of our upperclassmen the last few years. We have three or four girls who have played club together so it’s trying to make those connections on the field and how it can transition into our game as well.”

Aldrich and sophomore Alex Yoder, the Rebels’ second leading scorer from a season ago, both had two goals and an assist.

Marshalltown, meanwhile, missed its junior leader Sara Huffman just as much as it had anticipated. The Bobcats, who had gotten out to a 2-0 start for the first time in a decade, fell behind immediately and never really recovered.

MHS sophomore Natalie Andrade got her first varsity goal with less than two minutes remaining in the match to avoid the first shutout of the season for the Bobcats (2-1).

“We scored three against them in the scrimmage but we were playing different combinations,” said MHS head coach Stacy Galema. “We have some girls who are ineligible — they were playing. We had some girls that sat for three halves because they missed spring break practices. It was definitely an entirely different feel I would say start to finish, and then you take Sara out of the mix and that doesn’t help anything either.

“I would say it was definitely night and day from the scrimmage to today.”

Unfortunately for the host Bobcats, so was Monday’s outcome. After pitching a pair of shutouts, Marshalltown surrendered 14 shots on goal to Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck and even allowed an own-goal.

After Aldrich scored twice in the blink of an eye to open the match, the Rebels took a 3-0 advantage when Brooklyn Yoder’s corner kick bounced off a pair of Bobcat defenders and into the net. Lilyia Christen, the freshman goalkeeper with two shutouts in her first two starts, never had a chance at stopping the ball as GC/G-R posted its 5-foot-11 volleyball standout Ava Wyatt directly in front of Christen without resistance.

Marshalltown missed out on its chance to cut into the deficit after a handball in the box yielded a penalty kick later in the half. Kenya Gomez Reyes, who hit the crossbar on a penalty in last Thursday’s win over Central Iowa United, had her attempt thwarted by GC/G-R goalkeeper Meaghan Martens.

The Rebels made it hurt, scoring again less than two minutes later. Aldrich’s bid for a first-half hat trick slipped past Christen but hit off the far post, but Jada Blohm was right there to stuff home the rebound.

Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s four-goal halftime lead eventually ballooned to 6-0 with a pair of goals from Alex Yoder. Christen prevented Yoder’s hat trick, too, by coming up with a diving save on a penalty kick.

Marshalltown’s second-half scoring chances came only from corner kicks, both served by Alexia Garcia. The first one found Stefani Gutierrez for a good opportunity in the box, but she could only get her shin on the ball and Martens came up with the save.

With time running out, Garcia delivered another well-placed pass into the box and Andrade was there to finish it off.

The Bobcats finished with eight shots on goal, but most of them came from too far out to pose a serious threat. So, too, did a lineup with only one bench player available due to injuries in the early stages of the season. MHS was playing its third game in eight days to open the spring.

“Especially to start the season, we’re coming out of winter and leading up to the season it’s not like we could go out(side) and play,” Galema said. “It’s hard on our bodies and we’re having to play a lot of girls a lot of minutes and it just adds up.”

GC/G-R had more than enough cushion that it could substitute freely, especially in its first game of the season.

“We have kind of a strenuous schedule at the beginning of the year but like I tell the girls, we’re just trying to stay healthy and just compete,” said Mara. “I think we can compete with anybody that comes on the field with us, and knowing the area that we play soccer in with Dike(-New Hartford) and Columbus and Denver and Union, we always have a strenuous schedule. So if we can stay healthy now, I think we can compete with anyone moving forward.”

GC/G-R was scheduled to take the pitch again this week Tuesday in Elgin for a clash with North Fayette Valley.