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EDWARDSVILLE – The scheduled field hockey match between Edwardsville and Ladue had to be held up for about 35 minutes past the scheduled start time because of a heavy thunderstorm that passed through the area late Tuesday afternoon.
The delay didn't bother the Tigers' Annie Mulford one bit.
Mulford had a hat trick and assisted on the other goal as Edwardsville defeated the Rams 4-0 at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers and Rams have developed a bit of a rivalry recently; Ladue defeated Edwardsville twice in the regular season in 2014, but Edwardsville won when it counted in the season-ending Midwest Tournament. Mulford knew going in it would be a difficult assignment to take on the Rams.
“Ladue (3-4-1) has a great team; you can't take them lightly,” Mulford, a junior, said. “We've been playing as a team and we came out strong against them.”
The Tigers (2-5) haven't gotten off to the best start, but at the same time, no one was discouraged when they dropped five of their first six matches to begin the year, including three losses in last weekend's Gateway Classic. “We've been keeping our heads up; we've been playing some good teams,” said senior Ryley Miller, who assisted on Mulford's first goal. “It's been a heavy load to start the season, but we've been working to improve our skills and it's shown in our play.”
The skills definitely were at work on the Tigers' first goal; Miller got to a loose ball inside the Ram scoring area and found Mulford, who put a shot past Ram goalkeeper Kaitlin Mills with 17:41 left in the first half for a 1-0 EHS lead. Mulford extended the lead with 5:30 left in the half when she squeezed a shot just past the goalpost that Mills couldn't get to in time.
Despite falling behind, Ram coach Erin Lay thought her team was still in it. “We were playing pretty strong in the first half,” Lay said.
“We expected a strong game,” Tiger coach Julia Tyler said. “We just came out and played our game; there was a lot of great hockey being played out there today.”
The Tigers third goal, which came with 26:16 left in the second half (halves are 30 minutes each), though, really seemed to take the wind out of the Ladue sails. It came when Mulford found Ansley Dorsey deep in the Ram end and got her the ball; all Dorsey had to do was knock it home.
“Their third goal really got to us,” Lay said. “Edwardsville's a good, fun team to play; they have a very good team.”
Mulford closed out the scoring with 5:36 left in the match on an unassisted goal. Sarah Blume earned the shutout for the Tigers.
The Rams and Tigers have developed a bit of a rivalry; Ladue defeated Edwardsville twice in the regular season, but Edwardsville defeated Ladue in the season-ending Midwest Tournament, and the Rams had been itching to get another shot at the Tigers.
“It's turned into a rivalry,” Miller said. “I know they wanted to beat us and we got the win today.”
“We're hoping to see them again,” Lay said.
The Tigers hit the road for their next match, a trip to Lafayette Thursday afternoon.
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