EDWARDSVILLE – Something Edwardsville girls soccer coach Abby Comerford has been wanting to see the Tigers do is score a bit more.
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EHS had scored only twice in its first two matches of the Metro Girls Cup Adidas Bracket, defeating Springfield 1-0 and then dropping a 2-1 extra-time decision to Triad, putting them into Saturday afternoon's third-place playoff match against Waterloo.
Whatever advice Comerford had been giving to the Tigers paid off big-time; they got a goal from Ashlin West in the second minute, then a goal from Paityn Schneider in the 28th minute and a third goal from Ezri Beckmann in the 54th minute to defeat the Bulldogs 3-0 to claim third place in their division.
“We've been practicing shooting for the past couple of days,” Comerford said. “We told the girls that, in order for us to win, we're going to have to score. Doing that in the first two minutes, it was nice to carry over some things from practice to the games.”
Something else the Tigers had been working on in training was keeping the ball on the ground instead of getting it up in the air. “We've been telling the girls to play (the ball) on the ground,” Comerford said. “That's what the girls did; they took the ball to the ground especially in that second half. We were definitely playing the ball on the ground compared to playing it in the air; they did a really, really nice job of it.”
West's goal in the second minute came off a Taylor Hansen corner kick that led to a goal-mouth scramble. “It hit off Abby's (Crabtree) head,” West said. “It just landed on the ground and I was just there; I think it was just confusing for the (goal)keeper (Bailey Bosler) because so many people were in front of her.”
Schneider's goal in the 28th minute came off a feed from West that found Schneider streaking at the goal; all she had to do was settle and beat Bolser to the high side. “I was really, really happy, obviously,” Schneider said, “and I was really excited for the team that we could bounce back like that; I was glad to get a goal for them.”
That the Tigers were able to get a big win after two close matches means something for EHS and their confidence. “It's a big thing,” Comerford said. “It means the girls aren't giving up; they are continuously working hard on and off the field.”
The 2-1 Tigers travel to Columbia for a Tuesday match.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW WITH EDWARDSVILLE:
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