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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's girls soccer team entered their season-opening match Monday night with quite a bit of high hopes.
The Tigers got their 2016 campaign off to a good start, thanks to a 58th-minute goal from junior forward Abby Crabtree, who took a feed from freshman Emma Sitton, beat a Springfield defender, then scored past Senator goalkeeper Alivia Dubois as EHS got a 1-0 win in their opening-round Adidas Bracket match of the Metro Girls Cup tournament at Tiger Stadium Monday night.
The win put the Tigers into a winner's bracket semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; EHS will take on the winner of a Tuesday evening match between Marquette Catholic and Triad. The loser is relegated to the loser's bracket, where they will take on the Sens Wednesday night in a semifinal match. The final is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, with all matches in the bracket being played at Tiger Stadium.
The match got off to a somewhat even start as both sides – playing their first matches of the season – had their chances but couldn't score. Tiger coach Abby Comerford admitted it took a few minutes for her side to get untracked, but once they did, things went well.
“We were trying to figure it out at the very beginning,” Comerford said, “and then, I'd say halfway through that (first) half, we really figured it out and was really able to pick up the game.
“I think we had really more opportunities than what Springfield did, so we were happy with that, so we gotta put them in now.”
Edwardsville's goal came, in part, from some good speed up front on the forward line, especially from Crabtree. “We have a lot of speed up top,” Comerford said, “not just up top though; our centers and mid(fielders) with our outside (full)backs. They've been doing a really great job getting up and doing all that.
“I'm pretty pleased with how things turned out tonight.”
Crabtree admitted there were some opening-match jitters early. “The first game, we were all nervous,” Crabtree said, “and shooting is something we've needed to work on, but to finally get the goal, it was a relief for everyone.
“It was something I've been working on, taking my time and finding something that's open.”
Sitton started the sequence when she gained possession near the halfway line and struck a pass into open space that allowed Crabtree to catch up to the ball; she took possession and beat the Springfield defender that had been marking her.
Crabtree walked in by herself, one-on-one against Dubois, then switched feet and put a left-footed shot into the back of the net for what turned out to be the only goal of the match.
“If that feed wasn't there from Emma, (Crabtree) wouldn't have had that opportunity,' Comerford said. “We'd been telling Abby all game 'you can take her one-on-one' and she did.”
Freshman goalkeeper Regan Windau got her first start in her first match, and had an outstanding outing in Comerford's eyes. “Regan went out there in the back and as a freshman, this is her first game,” Comerford said. “She did great back there; she had a couple of really good saves, she was talking and organizing out defense back there.”
SEE POST-GAME VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH COACH COMERFORD:
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