PARMA -- Rayah Hitt scored twice in the final six minutes, 20 seconds as the Western girls soccer team broke a late tied to beat Marshall 3-1 on Thursday at the Panther Bowl. It is Western’s first win over Marshall since April 22, 2016. Marshall had won six straight matchups against the Panthers dating back to a 2021 tie. Late in the game it seemed this matchup was destined for a 1-1 tie as well, but with 6:20 left Hitt put the Panthers in front. “I saw one of our really good legs on the team, Claudia Allen, she finds passes really well, I saw her take a shot and I was just there for the rebound,” Hitt said. She struck again three minutes later, beating the keeper to a free kick and directing it into the net for an insurance goal. Western (5-4, 3-0 Interstate 8) wraps up a stretch of three games in four days, winning two of them. The Panthers have won four of the last five, outscoring opponents 19-4 in that stretch. Marshall (7-5, 2-1 Interstate 8), just two years removed from a 20-win season, has won or shared every conference title so far this decade, and now trails Western and Harper Creek in the Interstate 8. “We’ve slowly been closing the gap and we thought this year could be the year,” Western coach Kevin Bristol said. “We’ve got a lot of senior leadership, we’ve got a lot of good athletes on our team, and we’re starting to put it together. We’ve had a really tough schedule up to this point, which prepared us for today.” Marshall had not allowed a goal in the past three games, shutout wins over Holt, Coldwater and Pennfield, but within 13 minutes the Panthers had snapped that streak. Madison Brandt sent a one-touch pass to Nevaeh Hartshorn who tapped it into the net for a 1-0 lead. “One of the things we have is speed, and they’re physical and they’re strong, but our speed helps us get around the corners,” Bristol said. “We’ll attack and just be relentless, and that’s what worked for us today.” That lead held until midway through the second half, as Marshall was eventually able to break through in the 63rd minute when Amaya Burghdorf found the net to tie it at 1-1. But even after Marshall came up with the equalizer, Western continued to push, and came up with the answering goals to get the win. “Our team really wanted it today,” Bristol said. “It was just pure dedication and pure want. I’d like to think they slowed their thinking down and thought they could settle in and get one back, and we ended up getting two back.” After the opening goal, Western had chances to add to the lead, but the Redhawks were able to hold the Panthers at bay for much of the first half. Hitt had a chance off an 18th minute corner kick, but Marshall keeper Megan Rehfeldt made the save. Moments later Brandt and Claudia Allen both had chances in front of the net but both were deflected by Marshall defenders. Hartshorn then gathered the rebound, but her shot went into the side netting. Meanwhile the Marshall attack had a handful of quality chances in the first half which Western stopped. Nyla Whittaker had an early chance go into the side netting. In the 16th minute one shot clanged off the post and a shot off the rebound went wide of the net. Lillian Moore had a promising run in the 32nd minute which Hailey Dodd shut down. Western had a strong chance to add to the lead early in the second half as Brandt made a run up the right side. Her shot went off the crossbar and the rebound came to Hartshorn, whose shot was stopped by Rehfeldt. Moments later Bella Miles tried to center a pass from the left side, but Rehfeldt got to that before any Panthers could get there. Hartshorn also hit the crossbar in the 53rd minute, and Marshall made sure to shut down all attempts to score off the rebound. An apparent goal by Hartshorn in the 55th minute was flagged as offside. Western out-shot the Redhawks 10-3, and had a 4-2 edge in corners. “We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game, and I think we prepared in practice for this,” Hitt said. “We had lots of defense in practice, just pressure, it just allowed us to control the ball and have good pace.”