ALTON – Thursday's rain-delayed Southwestern Conference showdown between Edwardsville and Alton certainly lived up to expectations.
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The two teams battled on fairly even terms most of the night – until Eric Ferenbach broke through.
The senior forward took advantage of a Tiger turnover deep in their end and made no mistake, scoring past EHS goalkeeper Trey Riley in the 48th minute to get the Redbirds home in a 1-0 AHS win at Gordon Moore Park.
“That's a thing where, unfortunate, we had some mistakes at the wrong time,” said Tiger coach Mark Heiderscheid. “We had the ball, but it's high school kids, and we made a mistake and the ball went to the right player, and then he buries it.
“Aside from that, you don't want to delineate anything from Alton because that's not right. They worked very hard, they finished the goal. We had our chances. We had seven (corner kicks), so we're getting some territory, knocking the ball around pretty effectively.”
“Right spot at the right time,” said Redbird coach Jay Robertson. “You just have to wait for your opportunities, keep making those runs. We talked at halftime. He made some nice runs off the ball, made some nice diagnonals (runs); we just weren't getting it to the right spot.”
Ferenbach's goal gave the Redbirds some confidence. “We knew we could beat Edwardsville,” Ferenbach said. “The goal really boosted our confidence and we knew we could pull off the victory.”
From that point, the match fell into Redbird goalkeeper Devin Colley's hands, and Colley – who is playing soccer for the first time – was more than up to the challenge, making two key saves down the stretch to preserve the clean sheet.
“I felt pretty confident today,” Colley said. “There were a lot of things going on.
“I learn something new every game. I made sure I was completely focused and made sure I was there.”
Alton went to 9-4-3 overall, 2-0-1 in the SWC with the win; Edwardsville fell to 10-3-3 overall, 2-2-1 in the league. The Tigers travel to Carbondale for a match against the Terriers Saturday, while the Redbirds host Jersey in a Monday match.
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