EDWARDSVILLE - Dominic Bartoni came up with a hat trick, while J.D. Brewster, Stevie Jones, and Sam Villa also scored as CBC defeated Edwardsville on the Tigers' Senior Day 6-1 in a boys soccer match played Saturday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.
In the annual pregame ceremonies, the Tigers' Class of 2024 - Zeke Manning, Connor Hartman, Blye Brickman, Liam McLean, Nate Loftus, Colin McGinnis, Gavin Gierich, Jonas Mahler, Troy Chenault, Evan Moore, Matt Waple and Tayte Lewis - and their families were honored and thanked for their contributions to the Edwardsville boys soccer program.
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When the match started, the Cadets scored in the opening four minutes, then doubled the lead and never looked back, dominating from the opening whistle. The Tigers had some good moments, but it was CBC who carried the day.
"Obviously, 6-1's not going to be the best," said Edwardsville coach Mark Heiderscheid with a laugh. "This was a game, it was our senior day, and as such, it makes kind of a difficult draw, when we're trying to play CBC with that kind of task. So it was going to be a harder battle from the start. CBC's a very good team this year and Terry Michler's been the winningest coach in the nation for a long time for a reason. CBC is certainly at the top soccer programs nationally, if not the best one there's been over the last 50 years. And so, when you play them, we got pretty fortunate last year when we were able to come up with a win. Most times, we're able to play them pretty competitively. We win some of these, we lose some of these. Most times, we're the underdog; CBC is that good. This year, without a doubt, we're going to be in that position.
"But I think we have some things today that went awry for us that don't always have to go awry,” Heiderscheid continued. “Certainly, mistakes that just led to goals. They had a couple of free kicks, they get a (penalty kick). knocks in. They get a free kick, they knock it in. They have another free kick, they knock it in. So, really, when you look at it it looks like there's some goals that were, at times, very much could have been erasable. I think there's one that's pretty close to being off-sides; I'll have to look at the film, that goes into the goal. And so, you take all that away and it doesn't appear as bad. But you know what? Free kicks and PKs are part of the game. You give them up, and you pay for them."
Heiderscheid gave full credit to the Cadets for their performance on the day.
"Further though, let's just give credit where it's due," Heiderscheid said. "I mean, CBC is so strong. They have a very good team. They move the ball so effectively. Very well coached. And so, you have to do everything right in order to pull off a win like we did last year. But if you don't do everything right, then you're going to be in trouble."
The Cadets got their first goal only four minutes in when Brewster was able to slot home a shot from close in to make it 1-0. CBC doubled the lead in the 14th minute when Bartoni got a good through ball and broke away. The off-side flag stayed down and Bartoni was able to score to make it 2-0.
The Tigers were able to pull within 2-1 when Parker McMillan headed a crossing pass towards the goal, which eluded the Cadets’ goalie and bounced in in the 17th minute to cut the deficit. In the 27th minute, CBC got their two-goal lead back off a scramble in front of the Edwardsville goal, where a CBC player slotted it home to give the Cadets a 3-1 lead at halftime.
CBC dominated the play in the second half, although both sides had good chances to score. Just right before the hour, off a Cadet corner kick, CBC was given a penalty kick, which was immediately converted to make it 4-1. It became 5-1 in the 67th minute off a free kick from distance, when the kick was rifled just out of reach of the Tigers' keeper and inside the near post to put the Cadets up 5-1. CBC added one more goal in the 80th minute to make the final 6-1.
The Cadets are now 10-3-2, while Edwardsville drops to 9-6-1 and plays its final road game at O'Fallon on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., then concludes the regular season at home against Normal Community West on Oct. 9 in a Columbus Day matinee game at 11:30 a.m.
The Tigers received the second seed in Sub-Sectional A, behind the Panthers, who received the top seed and will host a regional, with dates, times and opponents to be announced.
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