ALTON- The Alton High School Redbirds Soccer team faced off against Belleville East High School Lancers on the stormy evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Gordon F. Moore Park.
After a 3-0 loss of their own against Quincy High School this past Saturday, Sept. 5, the Redbirds varsity squad were determined to stay on top of their game in their matchups against the Lancers.
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The Redbirds’ offensive push in the first half of the game was second to none. Alton was constantly on the tails of Belleville, and spent most of the half on the opponent’s part of the field, scoping out opportunities to score.
After several attempts at the goal, Alton finally put their first point on the board by the 15-minute mark, making the score 1-0.
Belleville was quick to gain possession of the ball, and used their intense defense to their advantage before they tied the score at 1-1 with 10:33 remaining of the first half.
However, with just over 8:00 minutes left on the clock, Alton eliminated the shortlived tied score with their second point of the game, making the score 2-1.
Belleville East’s defense was a little bit too direct for the likings of the IHSA referees and constantly pushed the boundaries allowable without penalty. That, however, ended as soon as The Lancers’ goalie dived and tripped senior midfielder Nick Hatfield (#10), resulting in a red flag thrown down by the referees. The goalie was ejected from the game and replaced with the team’s other goalie. Hatfield took a quick breather to recover from the hit, and went on to score the Redbirds’ third point after the free kick. The score was 3-1 with 7:15 left of the first half.
After the buzzer sounded for halftime, the Redbirds and Lancers recouped while their coaches offered them words of encouragement.
Redbirds Head Coach Jay Robertson was eager for his team to give it all they could give in the second half of the game.
“We came out with a lot of focus and intensity tonight,” Robertson said, “I hope we come out and play hard and get a couple of goals in the back of the net.”
And that the Redbirds did. The second half of the game was as offensively strong as the first, earning three more points for AHS. The final score of the game was 6-1 in the Redbirds’ favor.
The junior varsity squads for both teams also faced off earlier in the afternoon, and even began their games early in order to miss the impending storms that were headed into the area. The teams tied at 0-0.
The Alton High School Redbirds Soccer junior varsity and varsity teams will face off against O’Fallon Township High School at 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. respectively on Thursday, Sept. 10 at Gordon F. Moore Park.
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