EDWARDSVILLE – A pair of undefeated soccer teams took to the pitch at Edwardsville's Tiger Stadium Saturday afternoon.

One of them left the pitch with a loss.

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Normal Community's Ironmen made the trip south sporting a 6-0-5 mark, while Edwardsville entered the match with a 10-0-2 record.

The Tigers, thanks to goals from Michael Picchiotti, Alec Mills and Michael Glisson, took a 3-0 win over Normal to take their mark to 11-0-2 on the season; the Ironmen fell to 6-1-5 in unusually hot and humid conditions on their home grounds.

“To get the two goals early, and then when it's the second half, to get that third one, then you know it's going to be very comfortable,” said Tiger coach Mark Heiderscheid. “They're very a very well-coached team and they're well-organized; it's just we had a few more players who were out there who could punch the ball into the net. That becomes the difference.

In terms of their shape and all that, it's not a big mystery why they would be undefeated in (central Illinois) because they are just a very well-coached, well-organized team.”

“They were a little more aggressive in winning balls; I felt we were winning more balls in the first half, and in the second half, they were,” said Normal coach Matt Chapman. “They just connected; they showed the quality of their team in the second half. They're quick-connecting passes and it works very well. They've got some speed and that's a really good team.

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“We had some dangerous moments in the first half coming their way, but we couldn't pull the trigger on the shot, and that's where we are as a team right now. We need to figure out how to make that final piece of the puzzle happen, and we're going to be fine. The second half, they showed how good they are; they are a good team, without question – they're very strong.”

Picchiotti got the Tigers on the board in the 21st minute when Mohammad Hamad raced down the left side and fired a shot on goal that Picchiotti got ahold of and put it into the roof of the net to put the Tigers ahead. A minute later Hamad fired a shot at Ironmen goalkeeper Carter Hayek that Hayek turned away, but couldn't control the rebound and Mills was there to put away the rebound to put EHS up 2-0.

The Tigers' final goal came in the 41st minute when Glisson pounced on a loose ball in the Normal penalty area and tapped it in for the match's final goal. Edwardsville dominated play in that second half but could not find the back of the net again.

Daniel Picchiotti played most of the way in goal, with Michael Hoelting coming in down the stretch to preserve the clean sheet for the Tigers.

Edwardsville got a hat trick from Cooper Nolan and a goal from Sam Linnemeyer to take a 4-0 win over Normal in the junior varsity curtain-raiser. Wyatt Waltenberger and Alex Kehrer shared the clean sheet for the Tigers in the match.

Next up for Edwardsville is a 6:45 p.m. Tuesday Southwestern Conference home match against Alton, followed by Senior Night Thursday against Marquette Catholic and a trip to south St. Louis City for a Saturday afternoon clash at St. Mary's.

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