Soccer, at times, can be a difficult game. And there are times when, despite the best efforts of everyone on the field, things don't get settled.
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Marquette and Edwardsville experienced that Wednesday afternoon as the two sides battled to a 1-1 draw at Gordon Moore Park.
The Tigers were coming off a win the night before against Southwestern Conference foe Belleville East on a artificial turf field at Tiger Stadium. Wednesday's match was played on a natural-grass field that forced EHS to make a few adjustments.
“Playing on a grass field requires a few adjustments,” said Tiger coach Abby Comerford. “It changes the game quite a bit; playing on the grass is a bit slower than on the turf we have.”
The Tigers also had to adjust to playing with two of their regulars; Mallory Mushill and Jane Ann Crabtree missed parts of the game because of previous commitments at EHS. “That was just one of those things,” Comerford said. “We had to make some adjustments there as well, but we'll get better.”
The Tigers scored first in the 12th minute when, on a goal-mouth scramble, Allison Pritchard got the ball past Explorer goalkeeper Lauren Fischer to put EHS in front.
Edwardsville dominated play throughout the first half, and the Explorer effort didn't exactly make Marquette coach Steve Mitchell particularly happy.
“We didn't play well at all,” Mitchell said, “and we had a heart-to-heart talk with them at halftime.”
Whatever Mitchell's message was during that halftime spray, the Explorers got it. They picked up the pace and got some good chances against the Tiger defenders.
“We'd been playing it right down the middle,” Mitchell said, “but once we switched to playing wide, we've been getting better opportunities. Once we start scoring some goals, look out.”
The only Explorer goal, though, came off a penalty kick in the 44th minute when Tiger keeper Lauren Serfas was called for a foul in the area in a collision with an Explorer player, with Marquette being awarded a penalty kick. Lauren Schmickley took the kick and didn't miss, tying proceedings at 1-1.
From that point, Marquette got the better of the play, but couldn't find a way to solve Serfas again. The Tigers also had a couple of excellent chances down the stretch, but could not beat second-half goaltender Sanorah Eldred.
The draw took the Tiger record to 6-1-2 and the Explorer record to 4-1-2. Edwardsville travels to Normal Community for a 2:30 p.m. Saturday match against the Ironwomen, while Marquette travels to Roxana for a 4:30 p.m. Thursday match against the Shells and then goes to Quincy Notre Dame for a 6:30 p.m. Friday match against the Raiders.
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