Four seniors that helped contribute much to the Edwardsville girls soccer program stepped onto the Tiger Stadium field for the last time in the regular season Tuesday night.
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The four – Hannah Chapman, Lexi Norton, Allison Pritchard and Riley Mushill – made their last home game in an Edwardsville uniform count as Norton scored twice in a 4-1 Tiger win over Alton.
“It feels great, especially for our seniors,” said Tiger coach Abby Comerford. “They've been a part of the program for the last four years and it was nice to get the win for them tonight.”
One thing that Comerford has been concerned about has been the Tigers' tendency to get out of the gate slowly. “We're trying to get out of that habit,” Comerford said. “We've got to be ready to go at the start of the game.”
Still, the Tigers approach the IHSA Class 3A playoffs knowing what they can be capable of. “We played some of our best soccer up at Quincy,” Comerford said, referring to the EHS' three-game sweep at the Quincy Tournament last weekend. “It's something we want to build on.”
Edwardsville's slow starts bit them in the third minute when Brianna Hatfield took a pass and fired a long shot that managed to elude Chapman and squeeze under the crossbar to give the Redbirds a 1-0 lead. The Tigers had several opportunities to tie the match up, but the Redbirds were equal to the task and it stayed 1-0 at the halftime break.
It didn't take long for Edwardsville to draw level with Alton, though; Ashlin West saw to it when her shot beat Alton netminder Brianna Storey to the far post at the 43rd minute to tie the match up. Norton then gave the Tigers their first lead in the 49th minute when she took a through ball, drew Storey off her line and put it in the back of the net for a 2-1 EHS lead.
Jocelyn Wagner added some insurance when she charged in and scored in the 63rd minute, and Norton wrapped up the scoring with a 69th-minute goal to seal the win.
Edwardsville went to 14-2-2 overall, 3-1-1 in the SWC; Alton fell to 2-9-1 overall and 0-4 in the league.
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