EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's girls soccer team knew Tuesday night's Southwestern Conference match against Beilleville West wasn't going to be an easy task.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The teams had met on St. Patrick's Day in the final of the Nike Bracket of the Metro Girls Cup tournament; the Tigers came away with the win that day and it didn't come easily.
Their second match against each other in 10 days was about the same, the Tigers this time getting a brace (two goals) from sophomore Hannah Biliecke in a 2-1 win over the Maroons at Tiger Stadium, sending EHS to a 4-1-2 record on the season, 1-0-1 in the league; the Maroons fell to 5-2-0 overall, 0-1-0 in the SWC.
“It was good for her to get herself into position to make those goals,” said Tiger coach Abby Federmann of Biliecke's brace. “She's been struggling a little bit with confidence up until this game; hopefully, it's a turning point for her because she's a big asset for our team.”
Especially her first goal, a breakaway goal in the eighth minute where to took a pass from Emma Sitton and got a step on a Maroon defender, charging in ahead of the defense and putting it in the back of the net. “She definitely has speed and typically has very good control,” Federmann said. “I was glad she kept the ball at her feet and took her time and found that open net.
“She was in the right place at the right time and Sitton found her; it's exactly what you want to happen when you're building your attack and she executed it perfectly.”
“She broke away with some speed out there, got in behind our back line,” said Maroon coach Jason Mathenia of Biliecke's first goal. “She was able to get in on a breakaway on Bailey (Redden, the West goalkeeper); that was unfortunate and a rough little start for us. We felt like we were climbing an uphill battle at that point.
“The second half, she just hits a great shot; it was just unfortunate that she got the opportunity, but I give credit to my girls; they kept fighting, kept battling for sure and we end up getting one back – they're right in it and we kept pushing.”
Biliecke's second goal came in the 55th minute when she fired a drive off a feed from Rileigh Kuhns to make it 2-0. Taylor Mathenia scored in the 71st minute for the Maroons to pull them to 2-1 off an assist from Courtney Vollmer, but West could not get the equalizer.
That the Tigers scored two wins over the Maroons in such a short space fo time pleased Federmann. “They were going to be one of our tougher competitions,” Federmann said, “so it's nice come out and beat them outside of the (Metro Cup) tournament, a little bit fresher legs and see what it is we can do and see the progress that we've had since the tournament – we've had a lot of it.”
Edwardsville's defensive back line also played a key role in the win, Federmann thought. “They are just so cohesive back there and they work so well together,” Federmann said. “They have a mission, and the mission tonight was to shut down Mathenia.”
The Tigers will have some time for spring break before going back into action next week; they travel to Belleville East for a 5 p.m. SWC match April 3 before meeting Marquette Catholic at Gordon Moore Park in Alton at 4:30 p.m. April 4 before hosting Normal Community at 1 p.m. April 7 for a Saturday afternoon match.
More like this:
