EDWARDSVILLE – Two matches in, two opening goals for Abby Crabtree.
Crabtree, a senior for Edwardsville, got her second opening-match goal of the early season thus far as well as her second straight match-winning goal as the Tigers moved into Saturday evening's Adidas Bracket final of the Metro Girls Cup season-opening tournament with a 2-0 win over two-time defending IHSA champion Rochester (who won the 2015 Class 1A crown and 2016 Class 2A championship) at Tiger Stadium Wednesday evening.
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The win put the Tigers at 2-0-0 on the year; they'll take on Triad, 1-0 winners over Belleville West Wednesday, in Saturday evening's final at Tiger Stadium; the match begins at 6 p.m.
“The girls have been working hard for the past two weeks, so being able to come out and get a few games under our belt is good for them,” said Tiger coach Abby Comerford. “We were ready to play; they've been practicing hard the past two weeks, so them coming out and being able to possess the ball most of the game – they had a few chances there, but we did keep it with us.”
Crabtree's start to the season is making Comerford happy. “She's a great kid,” Comerford said. “Not only is she a great kid on the field, with her ability and all of her skill level, but she's amazing off the field. She's one of our team captains and she definitely leads this group.”
“It feels pretty good,” Crabtree said of her two match-winners in Edwardsville's first two matches. “We need to get those under our belt and it just starts off the confidence for the season and sets a good tone.
“From the second the whistle goes off, everyone needs to have a positive and good momentum; scoring early is exactly what starts that.”
Crabtree's goal came early – in the seventh minute when she accepted a through-ball from Paityn Schneider and scored to put EHS up 1-0 early on.
“It's always very nice to get those right in and sink them in the back of the net,” Crabtree said of her goal.
Schneider herself scored in the 45th minute to give the Tigers a bit of breathing room; Regan Windau recorded the clean sheet for Edwardsville on the night.
“It was huge and keeps the momentum going,” Crabtree said of the Schneider goal. “We're up against Triad (who defeated the Tigers 2-1 in extra time in a semifinal contest in last year's tournament) and we hope to have a better result.”
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