EDWARDSVILLE - Claire Nieroda is a senior striker and one of the leading scorers for the O'Fallon Township High girls soccer team, and in a win against Edwardsville on the road on March 27, it was her brace (two goals) that gave the Panthers a 2-1 win over the Tigers.
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The game was a rivalry game that saw both teams play hard, fast, and physical, as Nieroda herself was sent off after seeing the yellow card for the second time in the final seconds. But she had scored both of her team's goals in the second half after that, scoring on a penalty kick in the 49th minute, then scoring the winner after 64 minutes to give O'Fallon the win. For the current season, she's scored four goals and added three assists for 11 points as the Panthers start their season off at 4-1-0.
In her postgame interview, Nieroda felt that her team worked hard throughout the match, and felt very happy with the win.
"I'm feeling good," Nieroda said. "I'm just glad the team got the win, and I'm very proud of these girls. We worked hard until the end, the defense was just incredible throughout. We definitely prevailed, despite being down at the beginning."
The Tigers had gone ahead on a first-half penalty kick, but the Panthers were able to prevail on the night, with Nieroda's brace being the difference.
"It just felt really good to celebrate those moments," Nieroda said, "and feel it with my team. We worked so hard for this, and I'm just really proud of this group for all that they've done tonight."
It was a very emotional game, but the Panthers were able to come away with the three points, which was a big thing, indeed.
"Yes, that's what we'll definitely take from this," Nieroda said. "There are other moments we can take, errors we can improve on. But, it's just a great baseline to have going into the (Southwestern) conference."
As far as goals and aspirations for the season, Nieroda is keeping things both simple and easy.
"Just to keep growing together," Nieroda said, "and we'll win if we win. But, the main part is that we're just going to get better, and become better people and players, and just bond as a group."
The Panthers and Tigers face each other again on May 6 at OTHS Panther Stadium, with another possible meeting in the IHSA Class 3A playoffs later in the month. They're games Nieroda is looking ahead to.
Nieroda said: "They're always really tough opponents; tonight, they showed that, obviously. They're very incredible, and it's going to be a great game every time we meet them."
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